The Aachen Cathedral

The Aachen Cathedral


The Aachen Cathedral, or The Imperial Cathedral was built in 805 A.D. by Charlemagne. Charlemagne had kept many different types of relics within the Cathedral such as: The cloak of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the ragged clothes of the infant Jesus, and the loin cloth worn by Jesus on the cross. During the middle ages, many pilgrims would travel to this cathedral in order to see these relics. Charlemagne proposed that the relics would only be shown every seven years, and this custom is still in effect today. When Charlemagne died in the year 814, he was buried in the chapel's choir. His body was preserved very well and when his vault was reopened it was said that he was seated on a marble throne wearing robes, and he had a gospel opened on his lap and a sceptar in his hand.

The structure of the building was made in a octagon style golden mosaics pictures of God and twenty-four ancients surrounding him. The choir in this cathedral was remade in the year 1414 and was turned into a gothic style of a choir which was popular in this era. Gothic architeture had been evolved from the Romanesque buildings. Gothic architecture had a uniqueness to the buildings, they were different because the buildings had pointed arches on the sides of the buildings. Gothic buildings were also extremely tall and pointed, but they were made proportional to the size of the building. The Aachen Cathedral was one of the first 12 sites to be listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1978. It was added because of the history of the cathedral and the unique relics contained in the cathedral.