Browse Items
Date: 379-1099 (including restorations and partial reconstructions)
Location: Milan, Italy
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Associated Architects: Donato Bramante; Ferdinando Reggiori; Vuolvinius
Style: Medieval/ Romanesque
Description: The Basilica was served by both monks and canons, each of whom had their own cloister and tower. The simple south tower dates from the 10th century and is the Monk's Tower, while the the north tower, dating from the 13th century, is the Canons' Tower.
Date: 1019-1500 (rebuilt after 14th-century earthquake; followed by restorations)
Location: Basel, Switzerland
Denomination: Roman Catholic; Reformed Protestant
Style: Romanesque/ Gothic
Description: In 1529, religious images were removed from the cathedral and the once Catholic cathedral became the main congregation of the Swiss Reformed Church in Basel.
Other titles: Berlin Cathedral; Supreme Parish; Collegiate Church
Date: 1451-1905 (multiple buildings)
Location: Berlin, Germany
Denomination: Protestant (originally Roman Catholic)
Associated Architects: Martin Böhme; Johann Boumann the Elder; Karl Friedrich Schinkel; Julius Raschdorff; Otto Raschdorff
Style: Renaissance (until 1538)/ Brick Gothic (1538–1747)/ Baroque (1747-1817/1822)/ Neoclassical (1817–1893)/ Neo-Renaissance, since 1905
Description: Because the Berlin Cathedral has never been the seat of a bishop, it is not an actual cathedral.
Other titles: Chartres Cathedral; Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres
Date: 1194-1220 (including renovations following fires)
Location: Chartres, France
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Style: French Gothic/ Romanesque
Description: Chartres Cathedral is known for its flying buttresses that enabled the installation of 176 stained-glass windows, including three large, circular “rose windows.”
Other titles: Il Duomo di Firenze
Date: 1296-1436
Location: Florence, Italy
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Associated Architects/ Artists: Arnolfo di Cambio; Filippo Brunelleschi; Emilio De Fabris
Style: Gothic/ Gothic Revival
Description: The magnificent dome for this large sanctuary (89,340 square feet), designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, is the largest brick dome ever constructed.
Other titles: Resurrection of Christ Church
Date: 1883-1907
Location: St. Petersburg, Russia
Denomination: Russian Orthodox (secularized)
Associated Architects/ Artists: Alfred Alexandrovich Parland; Viktor Vasnetsov; Mikhail Nesterov; Mikhail Vrubel
Style: Romantic nationalism/ 19th Century
Description: Dedicated by Alexander III, as a memorial to his father Alexander II, the Church stands out with its highly decorated, multi-colored facade and interior with 7500 square meters of intricately detailed mosaics depicting biblical scenes or figures, each set off by finely patterned borders.
Date: 1248-1880
Location: Cologne, Germany
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Associated Architects/ Artists: Ernst Friedrich Zwirner and Heinrich von Gmünd, Master of St Veronica, Master of the Holy Kinship, Master of St. Severin
Style: Gothic/ Medieval
Description: The construction of the Cologne Cathedral took over 600 years. Upon its completion in August, 1880 it was the tallest building in the world (157 meters) and it held that title until 1884..
Other titles: Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of the Nativity of Saint Mary; Milan Cathedral
Date: 1386-1965
Location: Milan, Italy
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Associated Architects/ Artists: Leonardo da Vinci; Donato Bramante; Pellegrino Tibaldi
Style: Gothic
Description: Built over hundreds of years and reflecting a mixture of styles and uneven workmanship, the cathedral has come under criticism. In the 19th-century, John Ruskin remarked that the structure stole "from every style in the world: and every style spoiled."
Other titles: Freiburger Münster; Freiburg Cathedral of Our Lady
Date: 1200- c.1513
Location: Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Associated Architects/ Artists: Johannes von Gmünd; Hans Holbein
Style: Late Romanesque/ Gothic
Description: With its beautiful church tower, Freiburg Minster is one of the few large Gothic church buildings that were completed in the Middle Ages and survived the numerous wars almost intact.
Other titles: The Cathedral Church of St Mary the Virgin and St. Ethelbert the King in Hereford
Date: 1079 - c.1250
Location: Hereford, England
Denomination: Church of England
Associated Architects/ Artists: James Wyatt
Style: Gothic
Description: The cathedral is known for two unique treasures: the 16th-century Chained Library (for safe keeping, each volume is chained to the bookcase) and Mappa Mundi, a large 13th-century map of the world.
Date: 1017-1520 (with restorations and reconstructions up to the present)
Location: Normandy, France
Denomination: Catholic (The Order of Saint Benedict)
Associated Architects/ Artists: Edouard Corroyer; Victor Petitgrand; Emmanuel Frémiet; Paul Gout; Yves-Marie Froidevaux; Pierre-André Lablaude
Style: Romanesque/ Medieval
Description: Monastery, church, medieval fortress, and village on a 247 acre, rocky tidal island, Mont Saint-Michel Abbey is one of France's most recognizable landmarks and is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
Date: 1335-1364
Location: Avignon, France
Denomination: Roman Catholic, formerly; at present, tourist attraction/cultural site
Associated Architects/ Artists: Pierre Poisson; Jean de Louvres
Style: Gothic
Description: During the 14th century and for political reasons, the Palais de Papes was the papal residency and the site of six papal conclaves.
Other Titles: St. Peter's Basilica
Date: 1506-1626
Location: Vatican City, Italy
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Associated Architects/ Artists: Donato Bramante; Michelangelo; Carlo Maderno; Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Style: Renaissance
Description: Possibly the grandest and largest church in Christendom, St. Peter’s is the burial site for most Popes, and, according to the Church, the burial site for St. Peter, one of Jesus’s apostles.
Other Titles: Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris
Date: 1875-1919
Location: Paris, France
Denomination: Roman Catholic
Associated Architects/ Artists: Paul Abadie; Honoré Daumet; Lucien Magne; Charles Laisné; Henri-Pierre-Marie Rauline; Charles Garnier; Jean-Louis Hulot
Style: Byzantine-Romanesque/ 19th-century
Description: The Basilica stands on the "hill of martyrs" (Montmartre) which was the place where Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris, was decapitated for his faith.
Other Titles: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul
Date: 1907-1990
Location: Washington, DC, USA
Denomination: Episcopalian
Associated Architects/ Artists: George Frederick Bodley; Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.; Henry Vaughan; Albert Paley
Style: Gothic Revival/ Tudor Revival
Description: The second largest cathedral in the United States (the largest being Saint John the Divine in New York City) has 215 stained glass windows, including the famous Space Window that honors man's landing on the Moon and includes a fragment of lunar rock.