Laon Cathedral

The majestic, seven-towered silhouette of Laon Cathedral, surrounded by its canonical buildings, dominated the medieval city and the plain below. Constructed between 1155 and 1225, it is an outstanding example of early Gothic architecture and monumental sculpture. The lively lines of its facade, surmounted by the legendary stone oxen, give no inkling of its serene interior elevation, bathed in light from the medieval lancet windows in the chevet and three immense rose windows. Stripped of most of its interior decoration during the Revolution, refurnished with fine pieces from other churches and monasteries, it still boasts a remarkable series of 16th- and 17th-century chapel walls, a splendid organ and a paved floor which includes over two hundred tombstones, mostly in memory of past canons. In the 19th century, the cathedral was saved from imminent ruin by Emile Boeswillwald, who devoted almost fifty years of his life to its restoration and designed a new choir.