cathedral Archives | World Heritage Sites

An arch with images of Jesus and saints in the tympanum.

Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France

Seventy-eight locations along four medieval pilgrimage routes leading to the Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

A fortress with rounded elements on the corners and a tall square tower with crenellations.

Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon

A group of Medieval buildings in Spain that exemplify a fusion of Islamic and Christian architectural and artistic traditions.

A brick church with a block-like tower at its front.

St Mary’s Cathedral and St Michael’s Church at Hildesheim

Two 11th-century churches exemplifying Ottonian Romanesque architecture and art.

A religious scene in the form of a mosaic.

Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalú and Monreale

Sicilian landmarks that showcase a blend of Arab, Norman and Byzantine influences in art and architecture.

The rounded altar end of the cathedral with flying buttresses resting on the chapels.

Bourges Cathedral

A magnificent Gothic cathedral with stunning stained-glass windows.

Santiago de Compostela (Old Town)

Christian holy city with a 1000-year history as the endpoint of pilgrimage routes across Spain and France.

Amiens Cathedral

A 13th-century Gothic cathedral of extraordinary workmanship and beauty.

Notre-Dame Cathedral, towering over neighboring buildings.

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai

A 12th-century cathedral with a mix of Romanesque and Gothic elements.

The side of the cathedral with much decorative stonework.

Aachen Cathedral

A monument of religious architecture from the Carolingian period of European unification under Charlemagne.

A narrow street lined with houses painted in a range of colors, a church tower in the distance.

Protective Town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco

A colorful colonial-era town of Baroque architecture and its church complex with Mexican Baroque murals.

An evening shot on the town square, which is partly visible with some trees on the right. Facing the square is the cathedral, brightly lit up with two tall towers.

Historic Fortified Town of Campeche

A colorful Spanish colonial town surrounded by fortifications.

Looking up at the front of the cathedral: two square towers, very lacy with many vertical gothic openings, rose window at the center above the central entryway, lots of statue niches with figures and also gargoyles.

Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Rémi and Palace of Tau, Reims

Three medieval structures central to the history of Christianity and coronations in France.

On the left, the Leaning tower, with its rings of pillars on each level; next to that, the Cathedral.

Piazza del Duomo, Pisa

Four masterpieces of Pisan Romanesque architecture, including the world-famous Leaning Tower.

Looking down a long rectangular courtyard with arches supported by double pillars all around it: They're ornately decorated in an Islamic style. The upper story is also lined with arches supported by single pillars.

Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville

Three properties that are central to the history of Spain’s “Golden Age.”

The Albi cathedral: a rather plain red-brick exterior, with simple walls and rounded towers not much higher than the main body of the cathedral. Tall narrow windows.

Episcopal City of Albi

A small city with a rich collection of Medieval and Renaissance architecture.

Panama Viejo fortification ruins: stone walls and a tall square tower.

Archaeological Site of Panamá Viejo and Historic District of Panamá

A Spanish colonial city: the first permanent European settlement in the Western Hemisphere.

Historic Center of Vienna

An urban center with a wide range of outstanding historical architecture, viewed as the music capital of Europe.

Saint Sophia Cathedral seen from directly centered. White with green domes and one central gold dome.

Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra

An Orthodox Christian cathedral and monastery dating back to the 11th century.

A view of a cluster of half-timbered buildings with balconies and flower boxes.

Strasbourg, Grande-Île and Neustadt

Two districts, one exemplifying medieval cities, the other a model of modern city planning.

Baroque towers on the Abbey's cathedral.

Abbey of St. Gall

An 8th-century monastery with a beautiful Baroque cathedral and an ancient library.

Below where this photo was shot is a line of large statues of saints along the edge of the church's roof. Beyond that is Saint Peter's square, which is round, with pillared colonnades around the sides, except the far section which is open to a straight boulevard. The city of Rome spreads very far in the distance.

Vatican City

A tiny city-state with a long history at the center of the Catholic Church and containing magnificent works of art and architecture.

A view along the Seine seen from one bank. Below, lower than street level, is a bank with 2 rows of cafe tables capped with umbrellas. Between the cafe tables and the water is a path with people walking and biking, and a railing along the water. A tourist boat passes under a bridge over the river.

Paris, Banks of the Seine

A 365-hectare corridor that encompasses many of the most famous sights in Paris, spanning centuries of the city’s development.

View over the old town of Dubrovnik: lots of red roofs and the blue sea beyond that.

Old City of Dubrovnik

A well-preserved medieval, Renaissance and Baroque city inside extensive intact fortifications.

A bridge leads to an arched gateway with a square tower next to it in Regensburg, Germany.

Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof

A beautifully-preserved and very picturesque medieval trading city.

Looking down an aisle or cloister of the cathedral: gothic arches overhead, gothic windows on the left, tombs set between the arches on the right.

Burgos Cathedral

A magnificent example of Gothic architecture.

Speyer Cathedral

A landmark of Romanesque architecture dating to the 11th century.

A very ornate building of stone: arched openings all along the ground floor, windows on the upper two floors that are all surrounded by decorative stonework and with iron balconies, and a small bell tower in the center top with three bells in a row.

Old City of Salamanca

An ancient city with stunning architecture in Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles.

The fortress walls on the left, with rounded towers flanking a gate. A stone bridge with multiple arches leads into the gate. Along the wall are two further round guard towers with pointed roofs.

Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne

A classic medieval fortified town with intact walls, a castle, and a Gothic cathedral.

On the left, the facade of a large building, perhaps a church, made of stone with a flat facade but decorative windows. Straight ahead, a view over the red roofs of the city.

Historic Centre of Oporto

A beautiful urban landscape with diverse historical architecture in a range of styles.

In this partial view of Park Guell, two buildings are visible against a much wider view of the city and the sea. The two buildings are brown stone with colorful roofs that make them look like something out of a fairy tale: then come to a point in a series of wavy shapes. The house on the right also has a tall spire in blue and white tiles with a cross on the top.

Works of Antoni Gaudí

Outstanding works of modernist architecture bringing together a variety of influences from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Front view of Leon Cathedral: white plaster, symmetrical and only two storeys, wider than it is high. An arched roof in the center, squat turrets on either side.

León Cathedral

A cathedral that mixed European and regional influences in a new Latin American society.

Side view of the cathedral, with the spires at the right and a side entrance in front. Incredibly ornate in typical gothic style, with gothic arched windows, flying buttresses and elaborate sculptural details around every available surface.

Cologne Cathedral

An undisputed masterpiece of Gothic architecture.

A tomb stands on a pedestal in a niche, all of it painted white as well as the wall behind it. On top of the tomb is a pillar with what looks like an urn on the top and a relief of the person's face halfway up the side. Below the tomb, a figure leans on each side of the pedestal: both are women in white marble. The left hand one leans her elbow on the pedestal and her face on her hand. On the right the woman has her hands clasped on the pedestal and looks up at the tomb.

Roskilde Cathedral

A medieval cathedral in a unique mix of styles that inspired cathedrals throughout Northern Europe.

The top of Assumption cathedral: red brick with shiny silver-colored roofs on the turrets and the domes.

Assumption Cathedral and Monastery of the town-island of Sviyazhsk

A fortified monastery used by Ivan the Terrible in his efforts to defeat the Muslim Khanate of Kazan.