French cathedrals
Notre-Dame and Chartres
French cathedrals are the grand Gothic and Romanesque churches found throughout France, built primarily between the 12th and 16th centuries as seats of bishops.
Notre-Dame de Paris, Chartres, and Reims are among the most celebrated examples, renowned for their soaring spires, flying buttresses, rose windows, and intricate stone carvings.
These structures represent pinnacles of medieval architecture and remain major pilgrimage sites and tourist destinations.
We spent the afternoon touring French cathedrals in the Loire Valley.
- Notre-Dame de ParisParisian Gothic cathedral
- pointed archArch with angled apex
- roseStood up, or fragrant bloom
- stained glassColored window art
- stoneSolid earth fragment
stone carvings · Romanesque · sacred space · glass · tower · church bells · bell · Eucharist · crypt · gargoyle · altar · holy water · vault · Pilgrimage · Mass · crown of thorns · buttress · arch
- Gallicanismroyal patronage
French cathedralsmosques
Muslim houses of worship
synagogues · Hindu temples · Shinto shrines · Baptist churches · Buddhist monasteries