# Europe Forum > Travelling & Living in Europe >  Cathedrals and choirs and such

## No-name

Does your town or city have any great big Cathedrals? Do people still go there for worship?

I was thinking of going on a tour and visiting the Medieval and Romanesque cathedrals in the heart of Europe. Which ones should I see?

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## Revenant

Someday I want to hear Gregorian in one of the great European Cathedrals.

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## Maciamo

Every city in Catholic/Anglican European countries has a cathedral (+ sometimes additional cathedral-size basilicas). Most of them are fairly empty during the mass though.

There are too many cathedrals to recommend for sightseeing in Europe. 

In the UK, the best are St Paul Cathedral in London (Neo-classical), Westminster Abbey in London (Gothic), Salisbury Cathedral (Gothic) and Lincoln Cathedral (Gothic). 

In Belgium, go for St Michael & Gudula Cathedral in Brussels (Gothic), the Basilica of Koekelberg in Brussels (weird mix of neo-gothic and art-deco), Mechelen Cathedral (97m high tower; gothic), Tournai Cathedral (Romanesque with 5 towers in UNESCO World Heritage), St Bavo in Ghent (Gothic) and Our Lady's Cathedral in Antwerp (Gothic).

In France, the most impressive are Rheims, Chartres, Paris, Amiens and Bourges (all Gothic).

In Italy, naturally St Peter of Rome, the Duomo of Florence, the Duomo of Milano, San Marco in Venice, but also the Duomi of Siena, Pisa and Arezzo, the Basilica di Superga in Turin, and the Cathedral of Palermo.

In Germany, the best is the Cathedral of Cologne (Gothic), but there are many other nice Baroque ones.

In Spain, don't miss the cathedral of Sevilla, the mosque-converted-in-cathedral of Cordoba, Santiago de Compostela, and the Gothic cathedral of Leon, Burgos, Salamanca... Not a cathedral but as big, the Gaudi's art-nouveau Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is one of Europe's most famous.

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## Minty

> Does your town or city have any great big Cathedrals? Do people still go there for worship?
> I was thinking of going on a tour and visiting the Medieval and Romanesque cathedrals in the heart of Europe. Which ones should I see?


There are a lot of cathedrals in France. There is a museum about the cathedral in the city of our province. Museum free day is on the first Sunday of each month. 



This is the cathedral in the city of Strasbourg where I live.

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## Sensuikan San

> Does your town or city have any great big Cathedrals? Do people still go there for worship?
> I was thinking of going on a tour and visiting the Medieval and Romanesque cathedrals in the heart of Europe. Which ones should I see?


Not exactly the heart of Europe, but you could do worse than visit Peterborough in the UK.

A fine building with a great history. Mary Queen of Scots is buried there (following her "botched up" beheading) and so was (until fairly recently) Catherine of Aragon. Durig England's civil war, Oliver Cromwell left it untouched; he thought it was cursed - after he smacked his head on a door lintel as he rode into it and had a nasty fall .... followed by the even nastier fall of the two children of one of his officers who climbed into the transcept and lost their footing ....

They also always had a fine choir - before I became an atheist, I even "auditioned" myself ... but was rejected ...:rolleyes: 

You could always try Lincoln, Chester, York, Durham and many other UK cathedrals.

W

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## Tsuyoiko

My favourites are Wells in Somerset and Chester.

Wells Cathedral is mainly Gothic. You could spend hours looking at the carvings on the west front alone. Inside there is beautiful, mysterious stained glass, and the second oldest clock in Europe, which has an automaton you can see every quarter hour. You can also visit the Chapter house, which is up some stone steps worn by centuries of feet.







My favourite part of Chester cathedral is the stained glass in the cloisters. There is a window for each day of the year showing the saint for that day. I learned that my birthday is St Monica's day - she was St Augustine's mother.

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## Mars Man

And like a cathedral, standing out majestically as it inspires those through the ages, I find Tsuyoiko's post here...in the interests of Europe. How happy I am at the sight. . . and strenghtened. 

No...no cathedrals in my little hillside village of a town. Though my head often feels as spaciously empty as they oft seem to be. MM

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## No-name

Wonderful Pictures... any old castles in your neighborhood?

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## Tsuyoiko

There are a few. The nearest to me is Mow Cop, which is actually a folly. It is really atmospheric there. The last time I went there was in a misty November. It seemed Shakespearean somehow, with the mist swirling round it.

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## Maciamo

The most beautiful stained glass windows I have seen in a church/cathedral are those inside Gouda's Cathedral, in Holland.

Here are pictures of various cathedral around Europe.

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## No-name

That is one cool looking building.
The oldest buildings standing in California are the Missions-- and I think I have visited almost all of them. But they are only about 300 years old. I live in a mountain area where the oldest buildings were built in the 1920's. There is a few miner's cabins up in Big Bear and Holcomb Valley that are older... but they are not much to look at.

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## Locus

> Wonderful Pictures... any old castles in your neighborhood?


Hey there, just bumped into this forum by accident, thought I'd respond...

Check this, it shows a few Belgian castles, chateaus, ...

This isn't what you asked for but still has some decent pix of various Belgian cities and events.

/edit/

European Cathedrals/Churches

European Castles/Chateaus

With regards to the worshipping, here in Belgium (and most Western European countries) the attendance rate is pretty low, around 4% in Flanders IIRC and a bit higher in Wallonia. Even finding new priests and the like is becoming increasingly hard, and as a result many churches outside of the population centers perform only 1 service a day or have closed their establishment altogether. I'd say that many of us are post-religious.

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## himagain

I climbed to the top of Notre Dame, Paris, north tower with my son. 
One narrow spiral stairway with upwards and downwards movement
at the same time. It was the most closeness I've experienced since 
my passage through the birth canal.

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## Mzungu mchagga

> I climbed to the top of Notre Dame, Paris, north tower with my son. 
> One narrow spiral stairway with upwards and downwards movement
> at the same time. It was the most closeness I've experienced since 
> my passage through the birth canal.


I once climbed this cathedral with a similiar narrow stairway, pure claustrophobia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulm_Minster

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## Cimmerianbloke

Since you're in Germany, you ought to visit the three Kaiserdome, Mainz, Speyer and Worms. Aachen is also a must, with Cologne on the way...

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## Mzungu mchagga

I am from Mainz, actually, or at least from it's surroundings and went to school there. I've also visited the Dom of Speyer. But they are nothing compared to the Ulmer Münster. It is the highest church in the world!

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## Cimmerianbloke

Another pair of awesome sights are the Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy and the Sacra San Michele, off Turin:

http://www.hotelsearch.com/blog/wp-c..._st_michel.jpg

http://www.sacradisanmichele.com/eng...ex/id/32/cat/9

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## himagain

I live a moderate distance from a cathedral built in Spanish Plattaresque style
in Toledo, USA.

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## Ziober

I recomended the spanish ghotic cathedrals as Santiago, Burgos...

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## hope

> I recomended the spanish ghotic cathedrals as Santiago, Burgos...


Also the Santa Creu Cathedral Barcelona is magnificent.

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## Olga

wales seems to be big on their choirs

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## Twilight

Why yes, Seattle has St.James Cathedral my Great-Great Grandparents Leone and Bill got married there.

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