Strasbourg Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame)

Strasbourg Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame) stands on Place de la Cathédrale in the heart of the Grande Île, in the Grand Est region of France. Construction began in 1015 under Bishop Werner of Habsburg on the site of earlier Roman and Carolingian buildings, and the work continued until the north tower was finished in 1439. The east end and crypt are Romanesque, while the nave, transepts and façade mark the progressive shift to High Gothic from the late 12th century. The west façade, begun in 1277 to plans associated with Erwin von Steinbach, is covered in a screen of red Vosges sandstone tracery, and the single north spire reaches 142 metres. This made the cathedral the tallest building in the world until 1874. Inside, visitors find 12th- to 14th-century stained glass, the great rose window of the west front, and the Pillar of Angels, a carved Gothic column of about 1230 often cited as a masterpiece of medieval sculpture. The Renaissance astronomical clock, completed in 1843 by Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué in a case built around the earlier 16th-century mechanism, performs a procession of figures each day at about 12:30 PM. The Late Gothic pulpit, carved by Hans Hammer in 1485, is another highlight. The building is a living church, with a nave open free of charge at most hours, while a stair of roughly 330 steps leads to the viewing platform at the base of the spire, giving views over the old town, the Rhine plain, the Vosges and the Black Forest. The cathedral has been repaired many times: it was damaged in the Prussian bombardment of 1870 and by Allied air raids in 1944, and a permanent workshop, the Fondation de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame, still maintains the stonework. Original sculpture removed during restoration is kept in the nearby Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame, and replacement statues now stand on the façade.