Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris, France

Copyright © 1992 DEAN CROCKER All Rights Reserved

Begun in 1163, this Gothic Cathedral was finished about 1345 and commands the Île de la cité at the heart of Paris.
It seats some 6500, boasts that famous Rose Window and all those gargoyles, and makes visiting any other Gothic church seem fairly boring. (Walk around to the back—I think it’s a far more interesting building from that angle. See what I mean.)