3/31/2024 Cologne Cathedral, Cologne Germany

We started the day with clear skies and sun and since we had been to Cologne and done the walking tour before, we decided to skip the tour and walk to the Cathedral ourselves.  This being Easter Sunday, we knew that they would probably not be letting tour groups in.

The construction of this cathedral becan in 1248 but it took 7 centuries to complete it.

I love the ornate workmanship of the old Cathedrals

There is a lot of restoration work going on at present. One of the things they are focusing on is to clean the statuary in the facad of the church.

Looking through the scaffolding, you can see that one of the ststues has been returned to its original white while the other theree ar dark gray, almost balac from centuries of soot accumulating on them.

People were lined up at the front entrance to get into the church.

The inside is surrounded by beautiful staturay.

They had just finished High Mass so the interior was filled with smoke from the inscence that had been used during the mass.

Many Beautiful stained glass windows throughout the church.

The largest Reliquarry in Europe measuring 60 inches high, 43 inches wide and 87 inches long, it is said to hold the bones of the Magi, the three kings who paid homage to the infant Jesus.  The artifacts were stolen by Frederick Barbarossa from a church in Milan in 1164, and brought to Cologne.  Thousands of pilgrims flocked here to see the artifacts. In 1180 it was decided to place them in a Golden Sarcophagus.  The significance of the shrine, the number of visitors and the money that it brought to Cologne led to the construction of the Cathedral.

There are also beautiful Frescos around the cathedral

By the time we were ready to head back to the ship the wind had picked up and brought clouds.