Places
30 pilgrimage sites and cathedrals, each with a credited photograph. Each profile says what the building actually is — a cathedral is the seat of a bishop; a basilica, shrine or church is not one — and keeps documented history apart from tradition. Most are reference drafts checked against general reference works; 7 remain editorial drafts.
30 places
Santiago de Compostela CathedralCathedral built over the tomb venerated as that of the apostle James, and the traditional end of the Way of St James.CathedralPilgrimage siteRoman Catholic
Canterbury CathedralSeat of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the place of Thomas Becket's murder in 1170, which made it one of medieval Europe's great pilgrimage churches.CathedralPilgrimage siteAnglican (Church of England)
Church of the Holy SepulchreThe church built over the places Christians have venerated since the fourth century as the site of Jesus's crucifixion and tomb.ChurchPilgrimage siteShared by several churches
St Peter's BasilicaThe great Renaissance church of the Vatican, built over the place venerated as the grave of the apostle Peter. It is not a cathedral: the Pope's cathedral is St John Lateran.Papal major basilicaPilgrimage siteRoman Catholic
Chartres CathedralGothic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary, famous for its stained glass and for the relic known as the Sancta Camisa.CathedralPilgrimage siteRoman Catholic
Cologne CathedralGothic cathedral begun in 1248 to house the relics venerated as those of the Three Kings (the Magi), and completed only in 1880.CathedralPilgrimage siteRoman Catholic
Durham CathedralNorman cathedral built from 1093 as the shrine church of St Cuthbert; it also holds the shrine of Bede.CathedralPilgrimage siteAnglican (Church of England)
Archbasilica of St John LateranThe cathedral of Rome: the seat of the Pope as Bishop of Rome, and one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of the city.CathedralPilgrimage siteRoman Catholic
Notre-Dame de ParisMedieval Gothic cathedral on the Île de la Cité, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and seat of the Archbishop of Paris.CathedralRoman Catholic
Reims CathedralHigh Gothic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the traditional place of coronation of the kings of France.CathedralRoman Catholic
Amiens CathedralThe largest cathedral by volume in France, built almost entirely between 1220 and about 1270.CathedralRoman Catholic
Milan CathedralThe cathedral of Milan, begun in 1386 and finished in its last details only in 1965; the largest church in Italy.CathedralRoman Catholic
Florence CathedralCathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower, begun in 1296 and crowned by Brunelleschi’s dome, completed by 1436.CathedralRoman Catholic
St Mark’s BasilicaThe cathedral of the Patriarch of Venice, holding the relics of St Mark the Evangelist; until 1797 the chapel of the Doge.CathedralRoman Catholic
Seville CathedralThe largest Gothic cathedral, built on the site of the city’s twelfth-century great mosque, whose minaret became the Giralda.CathedralRoman Catholic
Toledo CathedralHigh Gothic cathedral begun in 1226 on the site of the city’s former mosque; seat of the Primate of Spain.CathedralRoman Catholic
Aachen CathedralCharlemagne’s palace chapel, where he was buried in 814 and where thirty-one German kings were crowned.CathedralRoman Catholic
St Stephen’s Cathedral, ViennaThe mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna, with its multicoloured tiled roof; its Gothic form was begun under Duke Rudolf IV.CathedralRoman Catholic
St Vitus CathedralGothic cathedral within Prague Castle, the largest church in the Czech Republic, holding the tombs of Bohemian kings.CathedralRoman Catholic
St Paul’s CathedralSir Christopher Wren’s domed cathedral, completed in 1710 after the Great Fire of London; seat of the Bishop of London.CathedralAnglican (Church of England)
York MinsterGothic cathedral built 1220–1472, seat of the Archbishop of York, with the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in the world.CathedralAnglican (Church of England)
Salisbury CathedralEarly English Gothic cathedral built between 1220 and 1258, with the tallest spire in England and an original copy of Magna Carta.CathedralAnglican (Church of England)
St Patrick’s Cathedral, DublinThe national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. Unusually, it is not a bishop’s seat; Jonathan Swift was its most famous dean.CathedralAnglican (Church of Ireland)
Uppsala CathedralThe tallest church in the Nordic countries, seat of the Archbishop of Uppsala and burial place of St Eric, Sweden’s patron saint.CathedralLutheran (Church of Sweden)
Nidaros CathedralThe northernmost medieval cathedral in the world, built over the grave of St Olav, and still a place of Lutheran pilgrimage.CathedralPilgrimage siteLutheran (Church of Norway)
St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, SofiaNeo-Byzantine cathedral of the Patriarch of Bulgaria, built in memory of the soldiers who died in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78.CathedralBulgarian Orthodox
Etchmiadzin CathedralThe mother church of the Armenian Apostolic Church, often regarded as the oldest cathedral in the world.CathedralArmenian Apostolic
Svetitskhoveli CathedralEleventh-century cathedral at Mtskheta, long one of the principal churches of Georgia and the burial place of its kings.CathedralGeorgian Orthodox
Mexico City Metropolitan CathedralCathedral built in sections from 1573 to 1813 on the former Aztec sacred precinct, beside the Templo Mayor.CathedralRoman Catholic
Hagia SophiaJustinian’s church of Holy Wisdom, completed in 537: the cathedral of Constantinople until 1453, later a mosque, a museum, and a mosque again.Former cathedralEastern Orthodox (as a cathedral, 360–1453); now a mosque