fcuklp

I will like to visit those famous Cathedrals in Eurpoe but seeing and entering all means having to miss some other places. I wish to hear your opinions or advice as which is better than the other, which is better just to view from outside, rank them if possible or let me know which are too similar, etc:

Paris, Rome, London, Florence, Milan, Berlin, Cologne, Aachen.

Thank you.

P/s. I am not a Christian, but wish to visit them for their touristy and artistic values.

ssachida

I'm finding it hard to answer your question because each of the cities you mention have several cathedrals and several more churches of note.

Are you visiting all the cities above and are trying to decide which churches to visit? Most of the cities you name can keep you busy with just their churches for several weeks, so its a little hard to pick a few without knowing how long you have in each place.

I'll take a stab at a few of the cities and perhaps others will pitch in:
Paris : Notre Dame and St Chapelle are the usual tourist top 2.
London: St Pauls and Westminster Abbey
Rome: St. Peters (technically not Rome but the Vatican) and I'd pick the Pantheon as my 2nd - possibly an unconventional choice. Really waaay too many in Rome to settle on just 1 more.
Florence: St Maria del Fiore (Duomo) and hmmm, the medici chapels are my pick,

Thats a start...

adrienne

Your request is a bit confusing because your title indicates cathedrals/churches and your text states cathedrals. Each city has dozens of churches but only one Catholic cathedral(you may also find Protestant cathedrals). I've been to most of the Catholic cathedrals you mention (I have not been to Berlin) and loved them all. Each is different. I could not rank them but suggest that you visit each since it's only one (sometimes two) church in each city.

Please further explain what you are looking for - churches or cathedrals so we may help you.

BTW - the cathedral for Rome is not St. Peters (which is a basilica and one of the four major basilicas in Rome); it is St John's in Laterano.

There was a recent thread on churches in Rome which showed an excellent sampling with photos of Rome's churches (I don't believe every church was included in the web site).

You can also google each cathedral in the cities you mention to see photos of them. Then you can decide for yourself what you want to see. It's difficult for others to tell you what you will like. And if people are able to rank them it will be their ranking, not yours.

J62

The difference between a church, cathedral (seat of the local bishop), and a basilica (church of some special distinction) is one that is also lost on many Catholics & other Christians, so for the purposes of this discussion it really doesn't matter what you call them. We know what the OP means.

Each of the cities you list above has large, historical religious buildings of note. In most of the cities you can't avoid seeing the exterior anyway, as they are located in prominent locations.

I haven't been to all the cities you mention.

The biggies in London (St. Paul's), Paris (ND), Rome (St. Peter's), Florence, Cologne are all quite different. You're comparing apples to oranges to bananas. Age, architecture style, engineering marvel, interior, windows, crypts & notable burials, sculpture. All of those are worth visiting on their own merit, both inside & out.

Google is your friend. You can read up on churches in each of these and see pictures in and out and decide for yourself.

IMO Rome is the biggest treasure trove of all, with Florence a close 2nd. There are countless neighborhood churches that may seem nondescript from the outside, but will amaze you on the beauty once you step inside.

fcuklp

Thank you both of you. Being a non-Christian, I am a little confused...
Anyhow, I see them as tourist attractions, be it oranges or apples.
Just wonder which is better than the other....Sure I will visit all if I have the time.
Seen pictures from guidebooks and the internet but they never mention in comnparisons.

J62

OK, Here's my comparison list

St.Peter's is better than Notre Dame
Notre Dame is better than the Duomo in Florence
The Duomo is better than St. Paul's
St. Paul's is better than Cologne
Cologne is better than St. Peter's

isabel

If you are going to the cities anyway you will undoubtedly pass by the major cathedrals/churches. Of course they are all worthy of a few minutes to walk around them and look at them. It doesn't have to take a long time. In my opinion most are more beautiful from the outside. The sculptures, architecture, etc. Especially Notre Dame in Paris is most beautiful from the side. Most major churches are in areas where you'll be as a tourist anyway so it won't involve going out of your way.

Most are free to visit interiors and most do not have long lines to do so, in which case a quick walk through is worth it. Some people spend hours looking at every piece of art but I find it enough to walk through and just sit for a few minutes to be impressed. It's also a great place to take a rest for a few minutes from walking. Plus churches tend to be cooler in hot weather and warmer in cold weather, so a nice break from the elements.

The most notable one that charges admission is Westminster Abbey in London. I found it worthwhile due to all the memorials to not only royalty and religious figures but literary figures, etc as well. You will have to wait in line for a few, like St Peter's in Rome. I'm not catholic either but given that it's one of the most famous places on earth I found it worthwhile waiting a while to see it. It's not just a "church".

The only town I ever went to mainly for the cathedral was Cologne and it was not worth it. I was in the area anyway, but found the cathedral not very different form so many others and the town lacked the historical feel of most other European cities. But if you are going to be in any of your list of cities anyway, certainly at least look at the major churches, cathedrals.

fcuklp

J62,

You think this is funny ?
I nearly picked your first 3 and stop reading. Luckily I read to the end.

fcuklp

J62,

Pardon my last reply. Your last reply is indeed funny but DANGEROUS.

isabel,

Thanks for your reply. I will make an afford to see them, at least from the outside but not sure if I should go in as some need entrance fees or time to "clim" to the top.

Colonge and Aachen, especially are out of the way and not much to see besides the cathedrals/churches.

Dukey

Unfortunately, you are skipping the largest one of all (depending on how you measure size) Seville!

adrienne

If you're looking for beautiful churches then Rome is the place you want to spend time on churches. See St Peters, Santa Maria Maggiore, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, and the Pantheon.

Here is the link to a thread that will give a link to another web site that has views of many Roman churches and you can choose others to see.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...70759-2.cfm?14

After looking at Roman churches other church architecture will look less ornate but still beautiful or have some aspects of beauty.

In London see Westminster Abbey and try to take a verger's tour if you have time. St Paul's charges admission to fully explore the church but you can go part way into the nave for free to get a peak at the church.

In Paris, Notre Dame gives free tours that explain about Gothic churches. The tours are Wed, Thurs at 2:00 and Sat at 2:30. Many Gothic churches have beautiful stained glass windows. It is the Gothic architectural style that allowed for these large, beautiful windows. St Severin church (near Notre Dame) has some lovely windows and they are clean and close enough enough to view easily. If you are interested in looking at stained glass close up then go to the Museum of Medieval Art (also known as the Cluny Museum), again near Notre Dame. This museum has samples of stained glass at eye level that you can examine to see how the glass fits into a window - very interesting.

For the Florence cathedral, you might want to read the book Bruneschelli's Dome which explains how innovative his dome was and how it was built. This is a short book that also gives the story of the political intrigue of the time so it is interesting for the history as well as the church. Then when you see the church you can better understand its beauty and its architecture. You can climb the church and see the dome from the inside if you have time (you can also climb up in St Peters in Rome).

I would not go out of my way to visit cities for churches unless you are a church nutter, like me! You will see lovely churches wherever you are. Spend a few minutes in each church you pass and maybe you'll be hooked on the beauty of churches, even the simple ones.

Again, you will do your own ranking based on your view of beauty. One of my favorite churches in Florence is Santo Spirito. I told my niece to see this church when she was in Florence and she reported back that she found it boring. Santo Spirito is a simple church, especially after viewing the very ornate Roman churches but I find the simplicity to be beautiful and worth a few minutes inside. so everyone has a different perspective on what is worthwhile.

Woyzeck

>>>I wish to hear your opinions or advice as which is better than the other, which is better just to view from outside, rank them if possible or let me know which are too similar, etc<<<<

What you are asking us to do is just a futile and useless task without some sense of the criteria.

If you ask Fodorites to tell you which are "better," you will get nothing but everyone's subjective response.

Why don't you tell us what you like "better" - architecture, history, size, location, artwork...

If you are asking us to describe the cathedrals to you, you'd be much better off spending 30 minutes on the Internet getting a brief description of each.

If you set your trip schedule according to anyone's subjective parameters, it should be your OWN. Look at some pictures on line and decide what you want to see. Think about what there is to do in each city and how much you would enjoy the location. Think about how much time you would spend travelling between the cities for this exercise.

fcuklp

Dukey, I am going Seville and since I have more time there, I will surekly visit that one, so I don't ask.

adrienne, thank you very much.

Woyzech, you misunderstood my OP.

Shanti

Milan - if you go, make sure to take the elevator (or stairs) to the top. This cathedral is huge. You can walk about half a mile on top of it. There are over 100 spires and each of them is intricately carved. I was fascinated by this walk.

Florence. Beautiful cathedral. Unfortunately, there's no elevator so if you want to go to the top, it's about 460 stairs. I walked this when it first opened in the morning so it was tiring but empty. It must be awful when it's crowded. Unlike in Milan, you go to the top primarily for the view of the rest of the city not for the duomo itself. While the dome is beautiful, it's small (especially after visiting Milan.)

Paris - I've only been to Notre Dame a few times and it's always been ridiculously crowded. Ste. Chapelle, however, is stunning even though it's also pretty crowded. There's other nice churches in Paris e.g. St. Sulpice.

Rome - St. Peter's is just too big, IMO. It seemed to have been built to impress not to inspire. I didn't have a favorite church in Rome. I prefer Gothic, I guess.

But take the Scavi tour. That was fascinating.

Seville - Seville is a great place to visit but I wasn't that taken with the cathedral. Again, it was just too big.

I haven't been to the other cities so can't help there.

One more thing, when possible, I like visiting during services. It gives a different feel to the experience. The only beautiful experience (at least for me) while visiting St. Peter's was during 5pm mass with the choir singing and light streaming thru the western window. Gorgeous.

Shanti

Almost forgot. You can walk the ramps up to the top of the cathedral in Seville (a lot easier than stairs) and that was pretty cool. Just don't be up there when the bells ring.

fcuklp

Thanks Shanti

Shanti

You're welcome. Have a great trip & please let us know about the cathedrals you visit.

kayd

As for entrance fees, the Catholic churches and cathedrals do not charge them to visit the central worship area (some do for entry to adjacent treasuries or other annexes), but the Church of England does charge for entry to St Paul's and Westminster Abbey. The Catholic churches all have donation boxes, of course, and in some you'll need coins to illuminate the art in side chapels.