Sint-Janskathedraal is one of the finest Gothic churches in the Netherlands, and arguably the most elaborate. The building took almost two centuries to complete, and the result is a late Gothic masterpiece that somehow manages to be both monumental and fantastically detailed. The exterior is encrusted with nearly 600 stone statues and figures — carved angels, saints, dragons, and nightmare creatures that seem to have escaped from a Bosch painting.
The flying buttresses are the highlight. Rather than the plain structural arches found on most Gothic cathedrals, Den Bosch's buttresses crawl with stone figures at every joint and capital. Walk slowly around the exterior before going inside. The interior is vast and dim, with excellent medieval stained glass and an ornate wooden choir. Restoration has been ongoing for decades — there are always scaffolded sections — but the building is always open and always extraordinary.