17 May: Cathedral & chocolate!

We enjoyed a late start today, lolling in bed till after 10 - a very comfortable bed too, though it squeaks with any movement!

We had a Thai curry for lunch, and then walked over to the Cathedral, or “Dom”. I had booked a guided tour at 2pm, but we had an hour beforehand, so we spent the time wandering around the church taking photos.

What an amazing building! Started in 1248, it took over 600 years to finish. We were both blown away by the beauty everywhere you looked. And so many different spaces - behind the high altar there are seven chapels to accommodate the Masses each priest in the Chapter had to say each day.

The Cathedral was started to provide an appropriate home for the supposed bones of the Three Kings of the Christmas Story. These relics quickly became popular with pilgrims, who came to venerate them.

The relics are housed in a beautiful gold casket, studded with 1000 gems- see photos.

Come 2 o’clock, we reported for our tour, which was led by a young religious brother. He gave us a lot of additional interesting information about the Cathedral, such as the age of different elements - the oldest stained glass window dates from 1260!!

The Cathedral is right next to Cologne’s main railway station, and close to the Rhine River’s bridges, so damage was inevitable in World War II. Fourteen incendiary bombs landed on the Cathedral, and although the lower windows and furniture had been removed for safety, the upper windows, roof and masonry suffered badly.

Fortunately the towers (mostly) survived, and there are pictures from that time showing the Cathedral surrounded by an utter wasteland. Awful.

As we left the church, Des caught sight of a little yellow train, and she thought that could be fun! The train turned out to be the Schoko Express, which took us to the Chocolate Museum. This turned out to be an excellent museum about the history and development of the chocolate industry. Funded by Lindt, the museum also includes a working chocolate factory, and a chocolate fountain!!

Another great day!

Tomorrow, day trip to Aachen and Charlemagne.Læs mere