Tuam

Ireland

Tuam is a working town of 8,200 on the flat farmland of east Galway, 35km north of Galway city via the M17 motorway. It's been an archbishop's seat since the 12th century, with the Gothic Revival cathedral incorporating a Romanesque arch from the original medieval church. The town sits at a handy junction where the N17 heads north toward Knock and Sligo, while regional roads spread across the surrounding pastures divided by stone walls. The real treasure here is the 12th-century High Cross in the town center, one of Ireland's finest examples of medieval stone carving with Celtic designs still sharp after nearly 900 years.