Chartres Cathedral (Chartres)

The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres is considered one of the world's finest examples of the Gothic style of architecture. Its construction took place mostly within a 30-year period starting in 1194, in replacement of an earlier cathedral that had burned down. The cathedral is easily recognized by its two contrasting spires — one, a plain pyramid dating from the 1140s, and the other an early 16th-century Flamboyant spire on top of an older tower.