134 Best Sights in France

Built mainly in the 13th century, the Cathédrale (called both Ste-Marie and Notre-Dame) is one of France's southernmost examples of Gothic architecture. Its 13th- to 14th-century cloisters are among its best features.

In the center of the Old Town, the Cathédrale de la Nativité de la Vierge was built in the 11th and 12th centuries on the site of a Roman military drilling field and is a hybrid of Romanesque and Baroque styles. The smallest cathedral in France, it has been expanded and altered many times over the centuries. Note the rostrum added in 1499—its choir stalls are carved with particularly vibrant and amusing scenes of daily life in the Middle Ages. In the baptistery is a ceramic mosaic of Moses in the bulrushes by Chagall.

This gargantuan, neo-Byzantine, 19th-century fantasy was built under Napoléon III—but not before he'd ordered the partial destruction of the lovely 11th-century original, once a perfect example of the Provençal Romanesque style. You can view the flashy interior (think marble and rich red porphyry inlay) of the newer of the two churches; the medieval one is being restored.

At first glance, the blazing, silvery onion domes of this Russian Orthodox cathedral, an easy walk from the Eiffel Tower and Quai Branly, appear like a mirage of Moscow on the Seine. The ultramodern edifice, designed by French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, is worth a quick peek for its graceful icons, mosaics, and colorful frescoes against pristine marble walls.

Toulon’s historic Romanesque cathedral was built in the 11th-century with successive additions in the 17th and 18th centuries done in the Provençal-baroque style. Among the notable artworks decorating the church’s dusky interior is a monumental marble altarpiece depicting God the Father surrounded by a throng of lifelike angels and two 17th-century paintings by Pierre Puget, a Marseille native whose sculptures once graced the palace of Versailles and are now housed in the Louvre. Francis I had the cathedral converted to a mosque in the winter of 1543–44 to accommodate the Muslim corsairs stationed in Toulon during the long Franco-Ottoman alliance to aid the king in his campaigns against Italy and Charles V.

The breathtaking Cathédrale Notre-Dame, one of the country's oldest and narrowest cathedrals, dates to the second half of the 12th century. The superb spire—arguably the most elegant in France—was added around 1240, and the majestic transept, with its ornate rose windows, in the 16th century.

This vast, frigid edifice was completed in the 1740s in a ponderous Baroque style, eased in part by the florid ironwork of Jean Lamour. The most notable interior feature is a murky 18th-century fresco in the dome. The Trésor (Treasury) contains minute 10th-century splendors carved of ivory and gold but is only open to the public on rare occasions.

The 16th-century baroque cathedral where Napoléon was baptized sits at the end of Rue St-Charles. The interior is covered with trompe-l'oeil frescoes, and the high altar, from a church in Lucca, Italy, was donated by Napoléon's sister Eliza after he made her princess of Tuscany. Eugène Delacroix's The Triumph of Religion hangs above the Virgin of the Sacred Heart marble altar from the 17th century.

Nîmes Cathedral was damaged by Protestants during the 16th-century Wars of Religion but still shows traces of its original construction in 1096. A remarkably preserved Romanesque frieze portrays Adam and Eve cowering in shame, the gory slaughter of Abel, and a flood-wearied Noah. Inside, look for the 4th-century sarcophagus (third chapel on the right) and a magnificent 17th-century chapel in the apse.

Fragments from a Gallo-Roman basilica were used to build this solemn, Romanesque cathedral, whose cloister is surrounded by richly sculpted columns and arches.

Built in a pure Provençal Romanesque style in the 12th century, this cathedral was soon dwarfed by the extravagant palace that rose beside it. The 14th century saw the addition of a cupola, which promptly collapsed. As rebuilt in 1425, the cathedral is a marvel of stacked arches with a strong Byzantine flavor and is topped with a gargantuan Virgin Mary lantern—a 19th-century afterthought—whose glow can be seen for miles around.

On a cliff top overlook at the Old Town's edge, this Romanesque cathedral contains no fewer than three paintings by Rubens, a triptych by the famed 15th-century Provençal painter Louis Bréa, and Lavement des Pieds (The Washing of the Feet) by the young Fragonard. 

This magnificent Russian Orthodox cathedral was built in 1896 to accommodate the sizable population of Russian aristocrats who had adopted Nice as their winter home. This Byzantine fantasy is the largest of its kind outside the motherland, with six gold-leaf onion domes, rich ceramic mosaics on its facade, and extraordinary icons framed in silver and jewels. The benefactor was Nicholas II himself, whose family attended the inauguration in 1912. For six years the church was challenged over ownership, but in 2013 the French courts rejected a final appeal by ACOR, a niçois religious association that managed the property for 80 years. The Russian Archpriest rejoiced: "This ruling shows that it is history that has triumphed."

Rodin famously declared that "there are no hours in this cathedral, but rather eternity." The Gothic interior, with its pure lines and restrained ornamentation, creates a more harmonious impression than the asymmetrical, one-tower facade. The most remarkable feature, however, is the rounded four-story southern transept, an element more frequently found in the German Rhineland than in France. Rubens's Adoration of the Shepherds hangs on the other side of the transept. Guided tours of the cathedral and towers take place on Sunday afternoons.

The onetime home of the Bishops of Uzès, the original Saint-Théodont was built in 1090 on the site of a Roman temple, but it was demolished during the ensuing religious wars. Though the impressive Fenestrelle Tower—a ringer for the Tower of Pisa minus the tilt—remains, it is too delicate to actually visit. The 19th-century neo-Romanesque facade shelters a pared-down interior and one of the oldest pipe organs in France. The views from the grounds are lovely.

This may not be one of France's finer Gothic cathedrals, but the intricate 14th-century chancel makes an interesting contrast with the earlier nave. Excellent stone carvings adorn the facade of the hefty edifice. You can also climb the 15th-century, 160-foot Tour Pey-Berland for a stunning view of the city; tickets must be purchased in advance online.

The chief glory of this comparatively austere cathedral is its atmospheric 11th-century crypt, in which a forest of pillars is surmounted by a rotunda. Fifty-minute guided tours of the crypt take place daily during the summer.

Brittany’s second-largest cathedral (surpassed size-wise only by the one in Dol-de-Bretagne) is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture enlivened by luminous 15th-century stained glass. Legendary King Gradlon is represented on horseback just below the base of the spires, which are harmonious mid-19th-century additions to the medieval ensemble. The church interior remains very much in use by fervent Quimperois, giving the candlelit vaults a meditative air. Behind the cathedral is the stately Jardin de l'Évêché (Bishop's Garden).

The 13th-century Cathédrale St-Étienne is a harmonious structure with large nave windows and tidy flying buttresses; the exterior effect is marred only by the bulky 17th-century Baroque west front.

The town's dominant feature is the ascending line of three magnificent churches—St-Pierre, St-Étienne, and St-Germain—with Cathédrale St-Étienne in the middle, rising majestically above the squat houses around it. The 13th-century choir, the oldest part of the edifice, contains its original stained glass, dominated by brilliant reds and blues. Beneath the choir, the frescoed 11th-century Romanesque crypt keeps company with the treasury, which has a panoply of medieval enamels, manuscripts, and miniatures, plus a rare depiction of Christ on horseback.

The fortresslike cathedral is in Byzantine style, and its cloisters connect to the courtyard of the archdeaconry, awash with Renaissance decoration and thronged with townsfolk who come to view art exhibits.

Périgueux's history reaches back more than 2,000 years, yet the community is best known for this odd-looking church, which was associated with the routes to Santiago de Compostela. Finished in 1173 and fancifully restored in the 19th century, Cathédrale St-Front seems like it might be on loan from Istanbul, given its shallow-scale domes and the elongated conical cupolas sprouting from the rooflike baby minarets. You may be struck by similarities between it and the Byzantine-style Sacré-Coeur in Paris; that's no coincidence—architect Paul Abadie (1812–84) had a hand in the design of both. After a mandatory visit to the cathedral, you can make for the cluster of tiny pedestrian-only streets that run through the heart of Périgueux.

The austere facade of the 13th-century Cathedral of John the Baptist is worth a visit to see its alabaster Renaissance baptismal font decorated with angel heads and rows of pews where the city's chaste upper-class women used to pray.

Autun's principal monument is the Cathédrale St-Lazare, a Romanesque cathedral in Gothic clothing. It was built between 1120 and 1146 to house the relics of St-Lazarus; the main tower, spire, and upper reaches of the chancel were added in the late 15th century. Lazarus's tricolor tomb was dismantled in 1766 by canons, and those same gentlemen did their best to transform the Romanesque-Gothic cathedral into a classical temple, adding pilasters and other ornaments willy-nilly. Fortunately, the lacy Flamboyant Gothic organ tribune and some of the best Romanesque stonework, including the inspired nave capitals and the tympanum above the main door, emerged unscathed. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's painting The Martyrdom of St. Symphorien has been relegated to the dingy north aisle of the nave, partly masked by the organ. The Last Judgment carved in stone above the main door was plastered over in the 18th century, which preserved not only the stylized Christ and elongated apostles but also the inscription Gislebertus hoc fecit ("Gislebertus did this," in reference to celebrated local sculptor Gislebertus of Autun); Christ's head, which had disappeared, was found by a local canon shortly after World War II. From April to October, you can visit the cathedral's Salle Capitulaire, which houses Gislebertus's original capitals, distinguished by their relief carvings.

Not far from the Grandes Écuries stables, on a lovely square at the heart of the town's old center, the Cathédrale Saint-Louis (also known as the Cathédrale de Versailles) dates to the reign of Louis XV. Outside, the 18th-century seat of the bishop of Versailles is notable for its dome and twin-tower facade; inside, the sanctuary is enriched with a fine organ and paintings. On Thursday and Saturday morning, the square in front of the cathedral hosts a classic farmers' market.

This 12th- and 13th-century Gothic edifice is noted for its curious Romanesque facade and original stained glass windows; bring binoculars to appreciate both fully.

A late-18th-century building in Classical style that took 57 years to construct, the Cathédrale St-Pierre looms above Rue de la Monnaie at the west end of the Vieille Ville (Old Town), bordered by the Rance River. Stop in to admire its richly decorated interior and outstanding 16th-century Flemish altarpiece.

A panoply of medieval art, St-Pierre (built between the 15th and 19th centuries) boasts a 1537 Renaissance chapel, a Flamboyant Gothic transept portal, and a treasury. The 13th-century Romanesque bell tower is the oldest vestige of the cathedral's seven centuries of construction. The church interior is closed for restoration until 2027.

Dominating the heart of Troyes, this remarkable cathedral is a prime example of the Flamboyant Gothic style—regarded as the last gasp of the Middle Ages. Note the incomplete single-tower west front, the small Renaissance campaniles on top of the tower, and the artistry of Martin Chambiges, who worked on Troyes's facade (with its characteristic large rose window and flamboyant flames) around the same time as he did the transept of Beauvais. At night the floodlighted features burst into dramatic relief. The cathedral's vast five-aisle interior, refreshingly light thanks to large windows and the near-whiteness of the local stone, dates mainly to the 13th century. It has fine examples of 13th-century stained glass in the choir, such as the Tree of Jesse (a popular regional theme), and richly colored 16th-century glass in the nave and west front rose window.

One of France's last Gothic cathedrals, this was begun in 1434—well after most other medieval cathedrals had been completed. The facade is ponderous and austere in contrast to the light, wide, limestone interior, whose vaults rise higher (120 feet) than those of Notre-Dame in Paris.