Beauvais Cathedral

Gothic ambition at its limit. The choir at Beauvais has the tallest vault of any Gothic choir, 46.7 meters, and standing under it is a lesson in what medieval builders dared. They paid for it: part of the vault collapsed in 1284 and the choir was rebuilt with extra piers, and the lantern tower over the crossing fell in 1573. The nave was never built beyond a single bay, so what you see is a soaring choir and transept that stop abruptly, braced by a forest of buttresses outside. It is a strange, moving building rather than a complete one. The astronomical clock show is ticketed.