The greater part of the houses in Lisieux are built of wood; and many of them are old, and most of them are mean; yet, on the whole, it is picturesque and handsome.  Its streets are spacious, and contain several large buildings:  it is surrounded with pleasant boulevards; and its situation, like that of most other Norman towns, is delightful.—­In consequence of the revolution, the city has lost the privilege of being an episcopal see.  Even when Napoleon, by virtue of the concordat of 1801, restored the Gallican church to its obedience to the the supreme Pontiff, the see of Lisieux was suppressed.  The six suffragan bishops of ancient Normandy were at that time reduced to four, conformably to the number of the departments of the province; and Lisieux and Avranches merged in the more important dioceses of Bayeux and Coutances.

The cathedral, now the parish church of St. Peter, derived, however, one advantage from the revolution.  Another church, dedicated to St. Germain, which had previously stood immediately before it, so as almost to block up the approach, was taken down, and the west front of the cathedral was made to open upon a spacious square.—­Solid, simple grandeur are the characters of this front, which, notwithstanding some slight anomalies, is, upon the whole, a noble specimen of early pointed architecture.—­It is divided into three equal compartments, the lateral ones rising into short square towers of similar height.  The southern tower is surmounted by a lofty stone spire, probably of a date posterior to the part below.  The spire of the opposite tower fell in 1553, at which time much injury was done to the building, and particularly to the central door-way, which, even to the present day, has never been repaired.—­Contrary to the usual elevation of French cathedrals, the great window over the principal entrance is not circular, but pointed:  it is divided into three compartments by broad mullions, enriched with many mouldings.  The compartments end in acute pointed arches.—­In the north tower, the whole of the space from the basement story is occupied by only two tiers of windows.  Each tier contains two windows, extremely narrow, considering their height; and yet, narrow as they are, each of them is parted by a circular mullion or central pillar.  You will better understand how high they must be, when told that, in the southern tower, the space of the upper row is divided into three distinct tiers; and still the windows do not appear disproportionately short.  They also are double, and the interior arches are pointed; but the arches, within which they are placed, are circular.  In this circumstance lies the principal anomaly in the front of the cathedral; but there is no appearance of any disparity in point of dates; for the circular arches are supported on the same slender mullions, with rude foliaged capitals, of great projection, which are the most distinguishing characteristics of this style of architecture.