I first saw Cologne\u2019s Cathedral<\/a><\/strong> on a train journey from Amsterdam to Heidelberg in the late 1990s.\u00a0 It’s an imposing and immense Gothic structure situated adjoining the Cologne train station near the Rhine River. I recall the cathedral\u2019s massive spires (157 m or 515\u2032 tall) inspiring me to think,\u00a0 \u201csome day I\u2019m going to\u00a0visit that church\u201d! \u00a0It took almost 15 years from that train trip to finally visit the Cathedral, but thanks to friends Bernd and Monika, my wife and I visited Cologne and its great cathedral recently.<\/p>\n

Cologne Cathedral stands on the site of a 4th Century Roman ruin, and if you’ve time, there’s a fabulous Roman history museum immediately adjoining it that’s worth visiting.\u00a0 A previous church on the site had been completed in 818 AD, but burned to the ground in 1248 AD.<\/p>\n

The Cathedral\u00a0was once the tallest building in the world (before the Washington Monument assumed that honor) and its spires still dominate the city’s skyline. \u00a0It’s said to have the largest church facade on the planet, and is\u00a0the finest church in Germany. \u00a0The Cathedral is the country’s most visited landmark, averaging more than 20,000 visitors a day (ironically, the massive building also has capacity of 20,000). \u00a0Its construction began in 1248 AD and proceeded in stages until it was finally finished more than 600 years later in 1880.<\/p>\n

The highlight of the church is\u00a0the golden\u00a0Reliquary for the Three Kings<\/em> (said to contain the remains of the 3 Wise Men who, bearing expensive gifts,\u00a0 visited the baby Jesus in Bethlehem).\u00a0 This relic was originally in Milan but wwas “relocated”, as was often the case at that time, by a zealous emperor.\u00a0 It’s over 2 meters long, and made of guilded silver and gems and decorated with scenes from the Bible and the apostles.\u00a0 As the church has been a site of pilgrimage for centuries, Cologne Cathedral was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site<\/a><\/strong> in 1996.<\/p>\n

Cologne is an industrial city that was heavily bombed during the second World War.\u00a0 Much of the city was completely flattened, but the Cathedral was only minimally damaged, despite 14 direct bomb hits \u2014 even most of its stained glass windows survived.\u00a0 It was one of the few buildings in the city not destroyed by the bombing, a miracle really.\u00a0 What damage there was was soon repaired.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s well worth at least a few hours to explore the inside of this wonderful, historic church.\u00a0 There’s a separate treasury display associated with it that charges a modest admission which our schedule didn’t allow a visit to but which I’d certainly consider seeing if I ever get back to Cologne. \u00a0What you can see and enjoy in the main Cathedral satisfied us.<\/p>\n

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