French Gothic architecture
The most famous examples of Gothic architecture are found in the Île-de-France and Champagne, but other French regions created their own original versions of the style. The Angevin Gothic style in the province of Anjou features a vaults with elegant decorative ribs, as well as very ornate columns. The style is found in the interior of Angers Cathedral (1032–1523), though many of the Gothic elements of the facade were replaced with Renaissance elements and towers. A very fine example of Angevin Gothic is found in the medieval Saint Jean Hospital in Angers, which now contains the Musée Jean-Lurçat, a museum of contemporary tapestries.
Gothic architecture
Prague, in the region Bohemia within the Holy Roman Empire, was another flourishing center for Gothic architecture. Charles IV of Bohemia was both King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Empire, and he had monumental tastes. He began construction of Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral in the Gothic style in 1344, as well as a Gothic palace, Karlstein Castle in Central Bohemia, and Gothic buildings for the new University of Prague. The nave of Prague Cathedral featured the filet vault, a decorative type of vault in which the ribs criss-crossed in a mesh pattern, similar to the vaults of Bristol Cathedral and other English churches. His other Gothic projects included the lavishly decorated Chapel of the Holy Cross inside Karlstein Castle (1357–1367), and the choir of Aachen Cathedral begun in 1355, which was built on the model of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Gothic architecture in Germany and the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire generally followed the French formula, but the towers were much taller and, if completed, were often surmounted by enormous openwork spires. The distinctive character of the interior of German Gothic cathedrals is their breadth and openness. German and Czech cathedrals, like the French, tend not to have strongly projecting transepts. There are also many hall churches ("Hallenkirchen") without clerestory windows. Cologne Cathedral is after Milan Cathedral the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. Construction began in 1248 and took, with interruptions, until 1880 to complete – a period of over 600 years. It is 144.5 metres long, 86.5 m wide and its two towers are 157 m tall.