Salisbury Cathedral has the tallest spire in England

Batalha Monastery, Portugal, is an important example of a monastery with its church and other significant buildings dating from the Gothic period.

Parts of the Gothic cathedral (Notre-Dame de Chartres)

The western façade of Reims Cathedral, France.

GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

Gothic architecture is most familiar as the architecture of many of the great cathedrals, abbeys and parish churches of Europe. It is also the architecture of many castles, palaces, town halls, guild halls, universities, and to a less prominent extent, private dwellings.

It is in the great churches and cathedrals and in a number of civic buildings that the Gothic style was expressed most powerfully, its characteristics lending themselves to appeal to the emotions. A great number of ecclesiastical buildings remain from this period, of which even the smallest are often structures of architectural distinction while many of the larger churches are considered priceless works of art and are listed with UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. For this reason a study of Gothic architecture is largely a study of cathedrals and churches.