The Cathédrale Saint-Pierre stands on the high ground above the Charente, a Gothic cathedral that replaced an earlier Romanesque building after the Hundred Years' War and bears the marks of successive additions and restorations. The most striking feature is the truncated tower above the crossing — originally intended to carry a spire that was never completed, it gives the building an oddly powerful silhouette. The interior is spacious and cool, with good stained glass in several windows.
The cathedral sits at the heart of the old episcopal quarter, surrounded by streets of 15th and 16th-century townhouses that were once the residences of the chapter canons. The whole quarter is pleasant to walk; the narrow streets running down towards the river give glimpses of the Charente and the Arch of Germanicus below.