Cool Cologne

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Geo: 50.9411, 6.95984

Our last stop in Germany was in Cologne which was an ancient Roman town called a colony and hence the name. The wife of the Emperor Claudius, Appolonia was born here so she made sure it became an important city in Roman times. It is the 3rd largest city in Germany after Berlin and Munich with 1 million inhabitants (still tiny compared to London!). The cathedral was started in 1248 and after 300 years they ran out of money so it was halted for 300 years. It was then completed when the Archbishop brought back the skeletons of the 3 Kings or Magi who gave their gifts to Jesus. The bones are venerated in a golden shrine embellished with precious stones in the nave of the cathedral. The city crest is also 3 crowns to also signify the 3 Magi. The cathedral is Gothic with 2 huge spires which at one time were the tallest building in Europe until the Eiffel tower was built. There are over 500 steps which you can climb for the view but we did not attempt these! The stained glass windows are original in the lower part as they were removed during the war. There are both medieval and renaissance examples as well as ultra modern. The spires survived the bombing as they stood out above the clouds and acted as an orientation for the allied bombers. The rest of the city was blitzed and rebuilt.

A French perfumier moved here and made the first Eau de Cologne (yes we bought some) and this was before the more famous 4711 cologne. There is also a Chocolate Museum (yes we bought some) on the river front from where it is a lovely stroll back along the river back to the boat. There are numerous museums and art galleries in Cologne so it would make an interesting long weekend. We did not visit any as we wanted to walk around and get a flavour of the city.

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Comments

[Jacqui squires]

Ask Patricia if she remembers her 15th birthday on Cologne I climbed up all those stairs in the cathederal! She sat and sulked in the car

[llll]

Cologne 3rd largest city? buauuauauah lol tell that a Hamburg citizen....lol