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Paris, our hearts are with you.
As French officials assess the fire damage at Notre-Dame and begin to rebuild — President Emmanuel Macron says he hopes to re-open the cathedral in five years, according to the Washington Post — you can take comfort in what history has taught us: Cathedrals rebound.
Had plans to visit the revered medieval cathedral this spring or summer? You can still see it from the outside, but if you want to get inside a gothic cathedral from that vintage — about 1040 to 1540 — there are dozens of amazing examples to visit in France and across Europe, from the Basilica of St. Denis in a northern suburb of Paris just 14 miles from Notre-Dame, to Italy’s famed Duomo di Milano, which took a whopping six centuries to complete.
Here are eight European cathedrals that were built in the same era as Notre Dame, and worth a visit on your next adventure:
- Basilica of St. Denis, France
- Winchester Cathedral, England
- Catedral de Sevilla, Spain
- York Minster, England
- Duomo di Milano, Italy
- Cologne Cathedral, Germany
- Bordeaux Cathedral, France
- Burgos Cathedral, Spain