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Published: June 14th 2017
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Geo: 50.7766, 6.08361
So, after a slow start and a delicious breakfast of blood sausage omelettes, we drove with Miranda and Jonathan (and Drama the shelty dog) to Aachen, in Germany. I'm embarrassed that I had never heard of this city, though once I realised the French name was Aix en Chapelle, I did recall some details. We arrived at lunchtime, and as the kids hadn't eaten much breakfast, we went almost straight to a traditional German beer hall/restaurant on the square - Zum Goldenen Einhorn, or The Golden Unicorn. It has been a hostelry/restaurant since the 1300s, although rebuilt a few times since then - full of character and dark wood, and the schnitzels were fantastic!
The town itself was very quiet - Boxing Day is a holiday in Germany - and the Christmas market stalls, all closed up, looked a little forlorn as the drizzle fell. We walked past the Rathaus, which is under giving renovations, around to the Dom Information building where we were able to join an English language tour of the cathedral - Drama, Miranda and Jonathan went to walk the city streets.
The cathedral was AMAZING! The Cathedral of Aachen is one of the most famous examples
of occidental architecture. It is the coronation church of more than 30 German kings, burial site of Charlemagne, major pilgrimage church and cathedral church of the Aachen diocese since 1930.
In 1978 it was the first German building to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. The original part of the church, built by Charlemagne in 800AD, is in the shape of an octagon, and is based on a church in Ravenna, Italy. It was the first vaulted structure north of the Alps since Roman days.
Our guide spoke reasonable English, and we were able to understand the relevance of the 8 sides - the 8th day of creation was the resurrection - and of the 12 - apostles. The columns were brought from Rome and Ravenna, although half of them are now replicas - Napoleon stole half, which were incorporated into the structure of the Louvre and are now considered on "permanent loan" from Aachen!
We also saw the gold covered reliquaries in which the remains of Charlemagne are kept, and in which they store 4 pieces of cloth. The guide explained that the 4 pieces of cloth are from the decapitation cloth of John the Baptist (which
are, apparently, blood splattered!), cloth from the robe of The Virgin Mary, the loincloth of Jesus on the Cross, and the nappies of Jesus as an infant!! Yep, you read that last one right - I had to ask the guide to repeat herself! Unfortunately, carbon dating suggests that, whilst the decapitation cloth is 2000 years old, the others are (only) 1200 years old, so are probably "symbolic relics". We also saw the throne of Charlemagne, where the Germany kings were crowned for 600 years - the throne is made up of pieces of marble which have inscriptions in ancient Latin, and are believed to be from the tomb of Jesus.
We also went through the Treasury of Aachen - as the most important seat of the holy Roman Emperor, there were some impressive things here. A fabulous bust of Charlemagne, an amazing cross....reliquaries holding the belt of Mary, and the belt of Jesus.....
Back to Miranda and Jonathan, and back past the excavated ruins of the town (dating back to prehistoric times!) and the baths, with their strong smell of mineral waters. A wonderful day!
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Katie Nicholson
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Allo... allo... allo... wats going on here then ehh ;-)