Cathedral Steeples #1of4

The dictionary says a tower is exceptionally high in proportion to its width; a spire tapers to a point at the top; a steeple is a tower surmounted by a spire; a belfry is a bell tower attached to a building; a pinnacle is a small turret or spire; churches throughout Europe display striking examples of each.

Our Travel Journal Index contains the names of over 175 Cathedrals and large churches we have visited. Many have tall slender spires, others have flat-top towers, and some have one of each. Perhaps most have two towers, many have only one, a surprising number have four or five. At Milan, Italy, there are 98 Gothic towers, 2,000 statues on 2,000 spires sticking above the roof, and the 354-feet Tiburio with a gilded statue of the Virgin.

Brittany, France, has some of the finest belfries and steeples in Europe. A large spire is at the top of the tower, and at each corner of the base of the spire, there are often small copies of the main spire. Hundreds of country churches seem to follow this pattern. Sometimes one, sometimes two filigreed steeples, with four copies as pinnacles at the base of the spire.

Two of the more unusual church steeples are found in France. There are flying buttresses on the Cathedral spire in Bayonne. The Cathédrale Ste-Croix, the Cathedral in Orleans, France, has a different style spire than we have seen elsewhere. The top of the towers are round, with a flat-topped lacy spire with many little pinnacles, much like a crown for a king or queen. It can be seen for miles.

In Landshut, Germany, the roof-line of the red brick church of St. Martin’s, rises far above the other buildings in town, and the slender 436-feet steeple, rises far above that.

Churches and Cathedrals in Austria have especially well designed and maintained church steeples. There are single onion, double onion, very pointed, octagon, bishops miter, some with multiple balls of various sizes, most with blue, red, or green shingles, each just especially well maintained.

Saint Mere Egilse, France, the first French town liberated on invasion day WW II, is where John Steele parachuted into town and had his parachute catch on the church steeple. (Red Buttons plays that part in the movie, “The Longest Day.”) Repairs to the church include a stained glass window showing an US Army parachute drop.