Statues Outside the Aachen Cathedral
I finally decided to end my visit of the Aachen Cathedral. It is considered as one of the oldest cathedrals in Europe. The UNESCO World Heritage site listed cathedral was ordered built by Charlemagne who was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire at the time. During his time, Aachen was the center of the empire and thus the building of several important structures. The most prominent one would be the cathedral. There was of course an imperial palace but not much of it remains apart from the Palatine Chapel which used to be part of the palace. Other parts of the old palace were incorporated into a later Aachen City Hall. The rest of the palace was harvested for material.
Large Window Outside the Aachen Cathedral
What was left behind was an amazing structure. The original Palatine Chapel was then built on over the centuries because of the number of visitors coming here even back then. A new choir area here, a new chapel there, another chapel there and soon there is a full fledged cathedral. From the outside the cathedral looks much like a gothic church. The trademark spires have statues of religious figures in true gothic fashion. Looking at it from the outside, you can’t blame me for assuming that the cathedral would be a gothic one. According to wiki, the cathedral has three distinct architectural styles, Carolingian, which you can see from the central chapel. Gothic as you can see from the outside. And finally Romanesque which you see near the altar area. As you can tell, I really like this particular church. I understand why it has been accepting visitors for several centuries now.
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