Things to do in Laon? Start by counting the cathedral oxen

A roll-call of Laon's animals

In most towns, people start with the saints in the cathedral. In Laon, I start with the oxen. Sixteen of them, on the two west towers of Notre-Dame. It is one of the building's great peculiarities, and I do not think they get enough thanks.

So I am calling the register of Laon's animals, from the highest to the deepest. You keep the notebook, I keep the numbers.

One note in the margin, because this is the first question English speakers ask: it is pronounced "Lan", one syllable. I will not come back to it.

Sixteen oxen, and not a word of thanks

First entry: you see them before you arrive. From whichever road you take, the towers stand out on the hill. Then you enter the old town, and the cathedral slips out of sight. You have to climb rue Châtelaine, or step onto its very small forecourt, before it shows itself. Sixteen oxen on the roof, and the building still plays hide-and-seek.

Why oxen? The legend, written down in the 12th century by the monk Guibert de Nogent, says that on the building site a team loaded with stone collapsed from exhaustion, and a huge white ox appeared to help it finish the climb. Hence the homage in stone. Another, more learned trail points to an echo of the ancient cult of Mithras. People tell both stories. I do not settle the matter. I count.

The cathedral, begun around 1155 and finished in 1235, is open every day, with free entry. Use the right-hand portal, and push firmly: the door has a spring. Inside there is so much light that it earned the nickname "the luminous one". I had not asked for quite so much.

A pause, with no joke in it. This Wednesday 11 November, the war memorial in Laon hosts two ceremonies: at 11:00, the commemoration of Victory and Peace, on the anniversary of the 1918 armistice; at 12:00, the centenary of the memorial itself, with a First World War aircraft fly-past, the lighting of the basin, and the opening of an exhibition on its history. Inside the cathedral, a "Bleuet de la mémoire" (remembrance cornflower), given by the Bishop of Durham, has since 2021 commemorated the soldiers who fell in the First World War. NLocale has an article on the Chemin des Dames for this day.

A hippopotamus, a rhinoceros, and an asterisk

Second line in the notebook, and here I have my doubts. Two gargoyles frame the central portal: a hippopotamus and a rhinoceros. A little too exotic to take at face value. I checked: the oxen belong to the original building; the hippopotamus and the rhinoceros were only added in the 19th century, during the first major restoration. I write them down, with an asterisk.

To go up, wait until December: the guided visit of the heights, 209 steps, returns on 19, 20, 26 and 27 December at 14:30, for €7. In the tribune, a lapidary store, a first in France, holds about a hundred stones from the building that were taken down in the 19th century. A cathedral that puts its own pieces away. I admire that.

The oldest one has no legs

Last line: the oldest resident is under your feet. Beneath the citadel, the "Secrets sous la ville" tour goes back 40 million years on an audioguide, and for children the answer fits in one sentence: there was a sea here. Sixteen oxen at the top, a vanished sea below. Up to three departures a day, €9 for an adult, booking required. Not on Wednesday 18 November: the tourist office is closed for inventory. They are counting too.

Then walk back up and go around: 6 km of ramparts on foot, and you will see why Laon is called the "Montagne Couronnée", the Crowned Mountain. If it rains, the museum of art and archaeology is free, Tuesday to Saturday from 13:00 to 17:00, with the Templars' chapel in its garden, octagonal, built around 1140.

Notebook full: sixteen oxen, a hippopotamus, a rhinoceros, a vanished sea. As you leave, look back. The towers stand out on the hill, and up there sixteen oxen watch you go down. One look each, out of politeness. I leave you to count them.

The practical bit

• Getting there

  SNCF station in the lower town, place des Droits de l'Homme; direct trains to Paris Gare du Nord (1 h 35). By car: A26, exit 13.

• Going up

  TUL bus line 4, Gare-Cité médiévale, every 20 minutes (timetable); reduced service since 9 November 2026 (VAUX is not served in either direction from 10 November at 8:00 until further notice; reroute: Gare); on foot via the "grimpettes", the steep paths between the lower and upper towns. Free parking with a blue disc. The Poma funicular has been closed since 2016.

• Visits

  Cathedral free. Underground tour €9, booking required. Heights €7, on 19, 20, 26 and 27 December.

• Tourist office

  Place du Parvis Gautier de Mortagne, +33 3 23 20 28 62; closed on Wednesday 18 November.

• On NLocale

  The cathedral, the Laon area, this weekend's events.

Questions I already get about Laon