Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg

Strasbourg

Built of pink Vosges sandstone on the highest point of the city, a site already dominated from the 7th century by an earlier Merovingian cathedral, the present building condenses more than a thousand years of Western Christian architecture. Its single spire, completed in 1439 by Johannes Hültz of Cologne, made it the tallest building in the world for more than two centuries. One curious fact: in 1794, to escape the destruction ordered by the revolutionaries, a Strasbourg resident had the idea of capping the spire with a huge tin Phrygian cap, a symbol of Liberty — the cathedral was thus spared, under cover of taunting the German enemy.

Getting there : Free access, paid entry to the platform

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound