Strasbourg Cathedral

The Strasbourg Cathedral is a Gothic aesthetic masterpiece that should not be overlooked. Victor Hugo described it as a "light and delicate masterpiece," yet that barely scratches the surface. The cathedral is nearly a thousand years old and was built over decades over the site of an earlier Roman temple, the crypt of which still exists.

The masons and artists who embellished the tower to the smallest detail left a trail of mysterious secrets and codes, but the most stunning of them is the astronomical clock, whose mechanized figures march around each day at half past noon. The building's exterior, made of pink sandstone that changes color as the light changes throughout the day, is covered in hundreds of sculptures that employ light and shadows to appear to spring out at you.

Location: Strasbourg, France.