Aachen Cathedral
The first part of Aachen
Cathedral, frequently referred to as the 'Imperial Cathedral', is the
diminutive Palatine Chapel, which was begun in 786 by Charlemagne, then
King of the Franks and later the first Western Roman Emperor for some 400
years. It is in the form of an octagon with a cupola, surrounded by a
16-side ambulatory, and is based on the design of the Byzantine church of
San Vitale in Ravenna, in Italy and includes some material looted from
other buildings there.
The oldest cathedral in
northern Europe, it is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and
combines architectural elements from Classical, Byzantine and Germanic-Franconian
styles. When he died in 814, Charlemagne was buried here in a shrine.
According to legend, in 1100,
Otto III had the vault opened and found his predecessor seated on his
marble thrown, his crown on his head and with the gospels in his hand. In
1165, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa persuaded the antipope Paschal III to
declare him a saint (although this was never ratified by Rome) and the
chapel became a site of pilgrimage. That year, Barbarossa reinterred the
remains in a Parian marble sarcophagus, and in 1215 Frederick II reburied
them in a gold and silver casket.
The popularity of the shrine
as a site of pilgrimage made it imperative for the building to be
extended, it is the Gothic 'glass chapel' or choir hall for which
the cathedral is best known today. It was consecrated in 1414, on the six
hundredth anniversary of Charlemagne's death. Where the original part of
the building is dark and intimate, the expanses of stained glass in the
new part mean that Charlemagne's golden shrine, which stands behind the
high alter, is flooded with light. This spectacular setting was the site
of the coronations of Holy Roman Emperors until 1531.
The Cathedral's Treasury holds
what is regarded as some of the most important ecclesiastical treasures
in northern Europe, including masterpieces of the late Classical,
Carolingian, Ottonian and Romanesque periods - among them there are some
unique exhibits such as the Cross of Lothair the Bust of Charlemagne and
the Persephone sarcophagus.
