Toledo Cathedral, Toledo, Spain
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain

The Kollegienkirche (Collegiate church) in Salzburg and the Karlskirche (St. Charles church) in Vienna, both designed by Fischer von Erlach are both baroque churches. They are my all-time favorites.

Wells Cathedral in Somerset, UK- wonderful medieval stonework and nearby Close is just as though you've stepped back in time.
Ely Cathedral in Norfolk UK- fantastic central tower in a small unspoiled town.

Florence has an interesting exterior - I don't really like the pink and green, but it is interesting. The Dome is superb. Overall I feel the interior of Florence cathedral is not as spectacular as Siena or Pisa.

My other favourites include Monreale in Sicily and the English cathedrals at Salisbury and Cantebury.

Stu (tower),

Things have been such a blur I hadn't ever gotten the chance about your trip! When did you just get back? We're still in Moscow and have been for about 3 weeks now, leaving tomorrow - finally. I can see the entrance to Red Square from where I'm sitting (if I get up...) Wondering if we crossed paths.

On the question, my favorites so far are Russian and Romanian Orthodox - the painted chapels in the monasteries of Bucovina and here in Moscow - St. Basil's is unique and unreal to stand in front of but I think I like the cluster of Cathedrals inside the Kremlin with the golden domes just as well.

I do like the Cathedral in Granada too, where Isabella and Ferdinand are buried.

Notre Dame
St. Denis
Chartres
Rouen
Rheims
Strasbourg
Sénanque
Autun
St. Paul's
Westminster
Bath
Durham
Wells
Speyer
Bamberg
Florence
Pisa
Roskilde

Shanti--you are right that most of Cluny has been destroyed but it is still interesting to visit

Ely Cathedral is great but is in Cambridgeshire and not Norfolk.
Both Norfolk and Suffolk are packed with beautiful churches, many built in medieval times from the lucrative proceeds of the wool trade (and therefore known as wool churches). Particularly gorgeous ones are in Lavenham and Long Melford.
York Minster had a fire in the South Transept in 1984 - 3 hours of fire took 4 years to repair.
There's a really good book out at the moment that may interest you - Roy Strong's A Little History of the English Country Church.

We're straying a bit from the "cathedrals and abbeys" brief - and let's be clear that the poster who said "Westminster" really, really, really, didn't mean Westminster Cathedral.

But if we're extending it to include basilicas then:

- Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome has to be by a gazillion miles Rome's finest major church.
- San Francesco in Assisi is probably the most gloriously decorated religious building anywhere outside Angkor Wat
- and yes, any list of Europe's most spectacular major churches has to include Sagrada Familia and St Denis - which, like San Francesco and Santa Maria Maggiore, far outstrip their relatively dull local cathedrals.

Wow, thank you again for all the info.

WFIW, my favorites - so far - are Ste. Chapelle in Paris, the duomo in Florence, the roof of the duomo in Milan. (I hate to admit it, but I wasn't able to make it inside so can't say anything about the interior.) I also visited quite a few cathedrals and abbeys in the area south of Paris and enjoyed them but can't pick a favorite.

Another favorite, although it's neither a cathedral or abbey nor is it Europe is the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.

Ah, see what you started :)

OK, with the caveat that I've not made it to continental Europe yet, here are my faves, in no particular order:

Ireland:
Glendalough Abbey (number 1!)
Kells Priory near Thomastown
Jerpoint near Thomastown
St. Patrick's in Dublin
Black Abbey in Kilkenny
St. Canice in Kilkenny
Baltingglass Abbey
Quin Abbey, Clare
Seven Churches, Inis Mor
Muckross Abbey
Skellig Michael
Knocktopher Friary
Slane Friary/Abbey (Meath)
Rock of Cashel



Scotland:
St. Giles, Edinburgh
Roslyn Chapel (had to put that in)
Italian Chapel, Orkney
St. Magnus Cathedral, Orkney
Holyrood, Edinburgh
Rodel St. Clemens, Lewis
Inchmahome Priory
Iona Abbey
Beauly PRiory
The border Abbeys are famous, but I've not been there (yet)!


England:
Jervaulx, York
Yorkminster, York
Fountains, York
Bolton, York
Rievaulx, York
Whitby York (do you see a pattern?)
Wells Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral
Westminster Abbey
Glastonbury Abbey
Bath abbey
St. Paul's Cathedral

I haven't seen it (YET!!), but from my college elective courses, I can't wait to see Chartres.

Two Molvanian masterpieces that no one has yet mentioned are the Crkja St Rzorci in Bardjov and the Crkja Simun in Lutenblag. Many also compare the Chapel of St. Jakov in Lutenblag favourably with Ste. Chapelle in Paris.

Hijack alert..a gentle one though


CLIFTON:

Please write and i'll send you the Russian pics...hope things went well, successfully and joyously for you and wife in Russia! Tell me all.(Wish i had know you were in Moscow when we were there! I have enough pics of St. Basil's to sink the Potemkin!

Stu

[email protected]

"Ah, see what you started :)"

And I'm very glad that I did. ((A))


I'm making a list for future trips.

Also sorry for the brief hijack, last one from me.

Stu, all's well - we leave for home in a couple hours. Sorry we missed you, we've been so preoccupied and I hadn't realized the overlap, but we were right here at an apartment at Tverskaya St. and the Blvd Ring for the last 3+ weeks. I'll email you for your shots once we're settled in at home with her.

I have a link to our photos at http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35169562 They're family pics, all about the baby really, but the last ones do have St. Basils and the Kremlin cathedrals in the background. Moscow's just got it's Christmas colors on in the last week and looking pretty good.

Clifton - she is soooo cute! Congratulations.

With a tower second only to Salisbury Cathedral and over 1000 bosses, Norwich Cathedral is one of my favorites.

Though it is not a cathedral
St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol was described by Queen Elizabeth I as "the fairest, goodliest, and most famous parish church in England." and well worth a visit.

Another favorite of mine is Coventry Cathedral - wonderful amalgamation of the old, destroyed by bombing during WW2, and new. It combines ruins of the old and a very modern new.