Palatine Chapel at Aachen Cathedral
Aachen Cathedral is one of the oldest cathedrals in Germany and also Europe as a whole. It was built by Charlemagne when he became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It was enhanced over the years to be the cathedral that we know today. Today, it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site list and it is a major tourist destination for Aachen. The cathedral wasn’t always like this. The church which Charlemagne built wasn’t a cathedral or a church at all, but it was a chapel for his imperial palace. What palace you may ask? The palace unfortunately, didn’t survive the passage of time and only the chapel remains.
Looking up the Dome of the Aachen Cathedral
The original chapel forms the core of the modern cathedral. It has a unique octagonal shape, which I have seldom seen in other churches. The octagonal chapel has several stories up to the golden dome which is like the sun shining in the chapel. It doesn’t appear to be possible for visitors to go to the upper levels of the chapel but from the look of it, it appears to be quite old. Or rather, the design appears to be quite old. I haven’t seen a central cathedral dome with passageways in them. This probably is due to the different design the chapel was based on.
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