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The only façade of the Synodal Palace visible from the Cathedral square is punctuated by powerful buttresses between which open the large windows characteristic of radiating Gothic art. The buttress pinnacles form niches in which stand five statues (heads, hands and attributes have been restored. The statue of St. Louis is modern): in the centre, Saint Etienne, the Cathedral's patron saint, surrounded by St. Savinien and St. Potentian, preachers of the Gospel in the Sénonais region,
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then kneeling, Gauther Cornut and St. Louis.
The Palace was built by Archbishop Gautier Cornut between 1230 and 1240. When the Tour de Pierre fell in 1268,
it carried with it the vault on the upper floor which was replaced by a simple roof structure. In the 17th century,
the Palace was radically altered by a large, inside staircase replacing the straight ramp rising originally under the entrance passage;
a middle storey was created on the same level as the Synodal Room, splitting up the space and thus making it necessary to remodel many openings.
Viollet-le-Duc restored the Palace between 1855 and 1866, inspired by his enthusiasm for this building pivoting between civil and religious architecture.
The enamelled tile roof and crenellation are a restoration conceived by the architect, with little foundation.
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The Synodal Palace comprises two rooms :
 
The ecclesiastical court (officialité), the cells, and the guardroom are to be found on the ground floor. The well-preserved dungeons have not been restored at all.
A straight ramp staircase under the vaulted passage to the Archbishop's courtyard leads to a storey given over entirely to a large meeting room, the Synodal Room, with dimensions appropriate for the Sens metropolis in the Middle Ages.
It has two levels in bricks and stone, separated by a large decorative strip where Etienne Poncher's coat of arms is to be seen (moor's head and shells).
The windows are framed by richly-sculptured pilasters.
A door with a lintel decorated with angels and a well with a scaled dome are the final details in this elegant,
refined building. Although the first floor in the facade on the rue des Déportés is as open and ornate as the one facing the courtyard,
its ashlar stone masonry on the ground floor is sober and
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closed, with a defensive appearance.
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The Henry II wing on the East side that closes this first courtyard has a far more regular and traditional stone elevation.
It owes its existence to Cardinal Louis de Bourbon (1550) and was designed as a two-level arcade,
open on the ground floor with a closed ceremonial arcade above. The large archways were quickly blocked up (perhaps as early as the 17th century)
and the inside space divided up into apartments.
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East facade in brick with large, rectangular window openings giving onto a second courtyard, formerly the Archbishop's garden. A pretty,
small orangery was reconstructed at the end of the 17th century to the North of this courtyard. The pediment carries gardening accoutrements:
watering can, spade, rake, garden line, etc. Between the Henry II wing and the Cathedral chevet the two-storey apse stands out from the Archbishop's Chapel,
built in 1742 by Archbishop Languet de Gergy and today housing the Cathedral Treasure House on the first floor.
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The Francis I wing is also known as the Louis XII wing.
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