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Cologne cathedral

Cologne Cathedral
  • Ecclesia Cathedralis Sanctorum Petri  (Latin)
  • Hohe Domkirche St. Petrus  (German)
  • Kölner Dom  (German)
Gothic-Cologne-Cathedral-004.jpg
View of Cologne Cathedral across the Rhine
Location Cologne
Country Germany
Denomination Roman Catholic
Architecture
Status Cathedral
Functional status Active
Style Gothic
Years built 1248-1473
1840s-1880
1950s-2005 (restoration)
Specifications
Length 144.5 metres (474 ft)
Width 86.25 m (283.0 ft)
Number of spires 2
Spire height 157 m (515 ft)
Bells 11
Administration
Archdiocese Cologne
Province Cologne
Clergy
Provost Gerd Bachner
Vice-provost Robert Kleine
Vicar(s) Tobias Hopmann
Laity
Director of music Eberhard Metternich
Organist(s) Prof. Dr. Winfried Bönig
Building details
Record height
Tallest in the world from 1880 to 1884
Preceded by Rouen Cathedral
Surpassed by Washington Monument, Ulm Minster
Height
Antenna spire 157.4 m (516 ft)
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iv
Designated 1995 (20th session)
Reference no. 292
Endangered 2004–2006

Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom, officially Hohe Domkirche Sankt Petrus, Latin: Ecclesia Cathedralis Sanctorum Petri, English: High Cathedral of Saint Peter) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Cologne, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day and currently the tallest twin-spired church at 157 m (515 ft) tall.

Construction of Cologne Cathedral commenced in 1248 and was halted in 1473, leaving it unfinished. Work restarted in the 19th century and was completed, to the original plan, in 1880. The cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and has the second-tallest spires. The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world. The choir has the largest height to width ratio, 3.6:1, of any medieval church.

Cologne's medieval builders had planned a grand structure to house the reliquary of the Three Kings and fit its role as a place of worship for the Holy Roman Emperor. Despite having been left incomplete during the medieval period, Cologne Cathedral eventually became unified as "a masterpiece of exceptional intrinsic value" and "a powerful testimony to the strength and persistence of Christian belief in medieval and modern Europe".


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