Burgos Cathedral

Begun in the 13th century in step with the great cathedrals of the Île-de-France and finished in the 15th and 16th, Our Lady of Burgos distils the whole arc of Gothic art in a single building. Spire-crowned towers, the star-vaulted crossing, choir stalls, tombs, reredos and stained glass compose an ensemble unmatched in Castile — and El Cid lies buried beneath the crossing. Burgos Cathedral was among Spain's first UNESCO inscriptions, listed in 1984.