COLOGNE - THE CATHEDRAL

COLOGNE - THE CATHEDRAL

Have you ever taken a taste of something you have simmering, or something straight out of the oven, or caught the aroma of fresh baked bread as you pass a bakery.  That is what the shore excursions were like on the cruise...interesting, wonderful, full of information and whirlwind...a taste but never enough.  There is no way in two or three hours you can absorb all the beauty, lore and history of these towns as you follow a tour guide.  Finally I started snapping pictures and assumed Walt and Google would be my friend.  I would love to take the same tour but get off the boat and stay for a week or so, then get on another boat and go to the next port of call. 

When you think of Cologne you think of the cathedral, as well you should, there are no words to describe this structure.  The route the tour guide took us brought us around a corner and into the cathedral square.  We all came to a complete stop and just stared. 

See the people in the lower right of the picture?  That gives you an idea of the size of this building.  

Looking up and up and up and up...

Details of the doorway arches.  Remember these were all hand carved, not poured in molds.  

The cathedral was built over 7 centuries (nope, not decades, CENTURIES!).  It was begun in 1248 and finished in 1880.  The details are all but seamless and I wouldn't be able to tell where one century stopped and another began...that in itself is a feat.  As you can see they were doing some restoration or cleaning.  If I was 800 years old I would need some touching up too.  The cathedral is known as "the mother and master of all churches in Germany".  Hmmm wonder why??    Full history and description can be found on the UNESCO site.  

Always I like the details of what I am looking at, the cathedral was no exception.  The statuary was breathtaking all over the facade of the building.

In one of my next lives I will go back to Cologne and spend my entire life documenting and researching the different statues and who they represent.  Until then I can just appreciate the beauty and workmanship of these masterpieces.

Not everyone shared my appreciation, nor did they show what I thought was the proper respect....

Will not even try to edit out any of these beautiful works of art.  Another project for another life time.

During World War II the stained glass was removed and taken to coal mines and kept safe from bombings.  The Cathedral didn't fare as well and was hit at least 14 times by heavy bomb attacks.  It was not restored fully until 1956.  

So there is conflict between Wikipedia (hmmph) and UNESCO - but the picture does tell the tale a bit.  A leading expert on all things said the cathedral was left standing as a landmark point for fighter planes.  Who knows, but sure glad it has been restored and someone had the forethought to put the windows in the mines.

Eight years before construction of the cathedral was completed a competition was held to decide the flooring to use. The end result was to use mosaic since it was more stable and hard wearing.  Plain sandstone slabs were laid in the nave and the transepts, and mosaic was used to cover the rest depicting three main themes:  The history of the archdiocese featuring the names and coats of arms of many of Cologne's bishops and  archbishops; the Christian world order and humankind; and the cosmos.    The mosaic was completed in 1899 and measures 14,500 square feet.

The organ - Mabel and Gwynne wish you could play this.

And now for the most awesome thing we saw, in my opinion. The Shrine of the Three Holy Kings in the cathedral.   Lousy picture I took, but still get a sense of what I felt while standing there.  I shamelessly stole a picture off a website that didn't say anything about copyrights so you could see just how beautiful the shrine is.

The relics of the Magi were brought to Cologne from Milan in 1124 and work on the shrine was begun.  The gold and silver relief figures depict salvation from the dawning of time until the last judgement. 

Below is some interesting facts gathered at Koelner-dom. 
I highly recommend it for facts, legends, and other interesting "stuff" about the cathedral.

 Sorry couldn't get it to center.

Description	Measures
Overall length outside	144,58 m
Overall width outside	86,25 m
Width of the western façade	61,54 m
Width of the transept façade	39,95 m
Width of the nave inside	45,19 m
Height of the southern tower	157,31 m
Height of the northern tower	157,38 m
Height of the ridge turret	109,00 m
Height of the transept façades	69,95 m
Height of the ridge of the roof	61,10 m
Inner height of the nave	43,35 m
Inner height of the aisles	19,80 m
Build over area ca.	7.914 qm
Window surface ca.	10.000 qm
Roof surface ca.	12.000 qm
Interior area without buttresses	407.000 cbm
Places (entire)	4000
Places (stand)	2800
Places (seats)	1200
Steps of the Tower	533

Cologne - the rest of the story next - stay tuned.....

Street performer in the cathedral square.