Narbonne Cathedral

Construction began in 1272, but completing the planned nave would have required demolishing part of Narbonne's fortified city wall. The cathedral therefore retains its monumental Gothic choir while the nave and transept remain incomplete.

The Cathedral of Saint-Just and Saint-Pasteur contains a soaring Rayonnant Gothic choir, stained glass, chapels, and an adjoining cloister. Its treasury includes a ninth-century ivory plaque, an eleventh-century Hispano-Moorish pyxis, and a Flemish Creation tapestry from around 1500.

It shares episcopal status within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Carcassonne and Narbonne rather than serving as the diocese's sole cathedral. This reflects Narbonne's former importance as the seat of its own archbishopric.

Yes, the abrupt western end makes it clear that the intended nave and transept were never completed. Visitors can contrast that unfinished footprint with the immense completed choir begun in the thirteenth century.