After the grievous damage to Notre Dame, I am thinking of all the great cathedrals and other grand houses of worship that I have both seen and not seen. I'm feeling compelled to go out and see as many more as I can, almost like there's no time to waste. If you had to pick a top ten or twenty for such a trip, what would you choose? I'm thinking of France, Belgium, and northern Germany, which I realize is arbitrary. But right now I'm thinking of these:

Basilique de St. Denis
Ste-Chapelle (I know it's a chapel, but anyway)
Chartres Cathedral
Amiens Cathedral
Reims Cathedral
Aachen Cathedral

What others would you add to the list?
Wikipedia has this list, but it doesn't indicate what ones to prioritize:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...rals_in_France

I think I'd get real sick of seeing another cathedral very shortly if that was all I did. Sometimes I don't think I care if I ever see another one, they all run together, so not sure that's the best way to appreciate them.

But if I had to pick some in France, it wold include Aix, Avignon, Bourges, Rouen, Strasbourg and Albi in addition to the ones you name.

On such a trip, I'm sure I would do more than cathedrals. I'd probably aim for one every 1.5-2 days, and maybe visit it twice in that time, depending on the circumstances.

Of the ones that I have seen, my favorites:

Albi
Bayeux
Laon
Beauvais
Dol
Narbonne
Périgueux (St-Front)
Rouen
St-Denis
Sarlat
Senlis
Strasbourg
Toulouse

I guess it depends on what your interests are. Regardless of whether it is a cathedral (= home church of the diocesan bishop so there is only one per diocese), or a basilica (can be any notable church that the bishop has tagged),

Certainly there are unique architectural features - bell towers, spires, naves, domes, flying buttresses, that make sites worthy of a visit. Personally, I've seen enough baroque, gothic, and other style churches over the years that as buildings they seem to blend together in my memory after a while more of the same/similar architecture gets me weary.

Sometimes it's the unique striped marble facade (Siena), or maybe a floor, or columns (San Marco, Venice). Other places it's the windows or organ, and yet others still it may be a particular statue, work of art, relic, or crypt that draws you.

You wouldn't get me in another cathedral now, but when I first came to France I did track down the cathedrals/churches mentioned in the round we sang at Girl Scout campfires 75 years ago. The history of each was special and I'm so glad I did it. This sung as a round to the tune of the bells of Vendome.Mes amis, que reste-t-il
À ce Dauphin si gentil?
Orléans, Beaugency,
Notre-Dame de Cléry,
Vendôme, Vendôme. I wish you well on your quest. Don't leave out Cologne.

If you are going to Aachen (and that is a really important city because the German emperors of the Holy Roman Empire were all crowned there), then you should definitely think about Cologne Cathedral. It is a mammoth and should not be missed.

Lavandula

Orleans' cathedral is highly overlooked - one of the largest in France - moving up a number for a few years - it is one one of the most stupendous in France: https://www.google.com/search?q=orle...iw=645&bih=613

Paris - Saint Chapelle near Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Nearly every large French town has a sweet cathedral.

I have seen Aachen and Cologne before, but like I said, some of these are new and some will be revisits. I agree both are remarkable.

I'd also like to re-see Antwerp Cathedral. But I know there are others in Belgium worth seeing too.

Italy and Spain are a topic for another day (and I have seen some amazing churches there).

Basilica of the Holy Blood, Bruges; the altarpiece Adoration of the Lamb in St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent; Basiliiek Koekelberg (which I think is the world's biggest Art Deco church) in the outskirts of Brussels (Jette, I think?); in France: the cathedral in Le Havre, which is a modern church made of concrete. The last two are not pretty but they are unique.

Lavandula

You've gotten some great ideas already! You might want to explore your options in Spain, too.

Cathédrale St. Etienne in Metz. It has the greatest window surface in Europe and also the biggest Gothic windows. Its UNESCO classification is still pending, though.

Is that cathedral in Metz the one with the Chagall windows? You could do worse than doing a trip looking out for all the churches with Chagall windows in Europe. I know of three: Mainz (Stefansdom), Metz and Reims, but there must be many more.

Lavandula

The Fraumünster in Zürich, which also has some windows by Giacometti.

Yes, it is the one with six Chagall windows.