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.
Churches in Norway
Gothic style was probably introduced by Håkon Håkonssen around 1240 and the style became dominant during the 13th century until church building came to a standstill after 1300 - lesser work on the Nidaros Cathedral however continued throughout the Middle Ages. Nidaros Cathedral is the only Norwegian church building where the full array of Gothic elements, including flying buttresses, is used. Other buildings with notable Gothic elements or additions include Utstein Abbey and Stavanger Cathedral. The typical rib vault was rarely used in Norwegian medieval Gothic, church builders instead relied on various types of timber roof trusses. On exception is the octagonal apse with rib vaults in Alstadhaug Church, probably inspired by the Nidaros octagon. Voss Church at Vossevangen is a 13th-century stone church in Gothic style, but with a wooden roof construction. The monumental Trondenes Church is a late medieval Gothic building with some Romanesque elements. The great St Magnus Cathedral on Orkney was built during the Norse period when Orkney was under the Archbishop of Nidaros. The soapstone portal in Dale Church (Luster) in English Gothic style is the most "magnificent" in any rural church according to Østby. The modest western entrance of Bergen Cathedral is an example of austere Gothic architecture.