Basilique Saint-Sernin

The largest surviving Romanesque church in Europe, this great pink-brick basilica was built to receive pilgrims travelling toward Santiago de Compostela. Its towering octagonal bell tower, rising in tiers of arched openings, is a defining landmark of Toulouse. Inside, a broad nave with double aisles was designed to move large crowds past relics housed in the ambulatory. Carved doorways and a crypt of venerated remains reflect the church's central role on the medieval pilgrimage network, and it is inscribed as a World Heritage site.