Golden Dome at the Aachen Cathedral
Much of my wonder at visiting the Aachen Cathedral was that the design was quite different from what I was used to. I was under the impression that this would be another gothic style cathedral but apparently it isn’t. I think it is because the church is much older and gothic design only came much later. One of the things which distinguish the Aachen Cathedral from the others was it’s use of gold. Yes, a lot of gothic cathedrals would have gold stuff but they would usually be furniture which is made of gold. The Aachen Cathedral has gold all over the place. The aisle which goes around the original Palatine Chapel has a ceiling of gold.
Dove Mosaic at the Aachen Cathedral
It doesn’t stop there, the central chapel makes good use of gold, especially what would be considered the dome. The chapel is octagonal in shape and it tapers at the top to form a dome. This dome is colored in gold with religious iconography. The color is actually a great choice because there are windows near the top of the dome and the light coming in through the windows reflects off the gold color of the dome and makes it somewhat shine. You can also see various mosaics here, most prominently the image of a dove which represents the Holy Spirit. I still can’t figure out why the cathedral looks much bigger outside then it looks from the inside.
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