Thursday, July 14, 2011

Cologne

Cologne is only an hour's drive or less from Aachen and we arrived about 2:30 in the afternoon. We parked a few miles out in the suburbs and took the tram into the centrum and back. We visited Cologne in 1979, then as now, mostly for the great cathedral.
Monster cathedral; I don't know where it ranks on the
Vatican's "mine's bigger than yours" list, but it is a bit
overwhelming both outside and inside
















Chapel of the 3 Magi in the ambulatory; windows are the
oldest in the cathedral, 13th century











The center two windows date from 1265 and
depict corresponding scenes from the Old
Testament (prophecies) and the New
(realizations)



















The Gero Cross, donated by Archbishop Gero
in 976; it is the oldest remaining monumental
crucifixion



















Shrine of the 3 Magi; Fred Barbarossa donated
the bones of the 3 Magi, which became the
major relics of the cathedral and made it a major
pilgrimage site; late 12th, early 13th, actually
antedate the present cathedral



















Beautiful mosaic floor throughout















North side windows, 1507-1509





































Notable for the coats of arms of their donors; this one notable
for its elephants; or possibly a contribution of a political
action committee of the current Party of Greed and Hate















Ever popular crucifixion of St. Peter



















Extremely rare fully rotated view











From the stern to the bow: immensity, yet light and lightness









We skipped the German-Roman museum this time; we think
we have seen our fair share of Roman stuff















The twin towers; Vicki poses for scale; they
are each 505 feet high--fifty stories




















Cologne in 1945; it was the target for some 262 Allied
bombing raids; most were nuisance or diversionary raids, but
also included the first "thousand bomber" raid and other
major attacks; Germans nowadays joke that the Brits and
Americans were trying to hit the cathedral...which suffered
no major damage




















We cross the Rhine and head for Holland

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