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Since the weather was still nice, despite
the forecast for rain, we headed west to Aachen, seat of the Holy Roman
Empire. Aachen sits at the borders of Germany, Belgium, and, the
Netherlands, and it is here that Charlemagne is buried. In fact, it was
Charlemagne's idea to build the Kaiserdom (cathedral of the kings) in
805, and it served as the 'coronation church' for 30 of the Holy Roman
Emperors, until 1531. It is the oldest cathedral in Europe, and it has
the largest dome north of the Alps. Upon arriving in the center of
Aachen, we found ourselves in the midst of another festival, with food
stalls and music, in front of this amazing building crowned with various
flags, statues, carvings, etc. Russell decided he would rather listen
to the music outside than explore another cathedral, so I wandered
around to find the entrance. When I reached the opposite side of the
building, I looked up to avoid a collision with a skateboarder (I
couldn't tell if he was aiming for me or if we were making the same
evasive maneuvers) and noticed another building, covered in scaffolding,
and dwarfing 'our' cathedral. Yup, what we thought was the cathedral
was not. It turned out to be the Rathaus (Town Hall) and restaurant.
The amazing scaffolding-clad building was the Kaiserdom. I went back to
tell Russell, but he wasn't convinced. He said he would wait if I
wanted a tour, and was happily programming something. Having already
read that the tours are (1) in German, and (2) take a full hour (but let
you see the white throne of Charlemagne!), I decided to wander through
it own my own. The center of the Dom is an octagon, which seems to have
two or more levels (I have to assume Charlemagne's throne is up there
somewhere), which is made of dark marble pillars. The floor and walls
are also marble, but inlaid with various patterns. The ceiling is an
incredible mosaic, with different patterns being on each column and
arch. The octagon 'faces' the dome, which is surrounded by jewel-toned
stained glass. Russell did see the Dom (at least the exterior), but as
it was getting late, did not have time to look around inside. By the
way, I don't feel nearly as silly as I first did in mistaking the
Rathaus for the cathedral - at one time, one of the towers was part of
Charlemagne's palace!
The Aachen Rathaus, with flags of the EU Madonna and Child, on the Rathaus Adoration of the Magi, also on the Rathaus. See why we were confused? The central octogon of the Kaiserdom. What the Kaiserdom looks like without the scaffolding. The ceilings and upper walls are covered in mosaics. Each pillar has a different design. The center of Charlemagne's octagon, dominated by the chandelier from Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa. Stained-glass of the dome, completely open from floor to rafters. This is what happens if you don't pay attention to your camera settings. Statue in Aachen. I'm not sure who's more surprise, the man or the chicken.
The Aachen Rathaus, with flags of the EU
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