Aachen Cathedral
Type: Church
Image provided by Wikimedia Commons
Image author: ©CEphoto, Uwe Aranas
As early as 786, Charlemagne began building the octagonal Palatine Chapel in Aachen, which was to be the cornerstone of a “new Rome”. When it was built, it was the largest domed structure north of the Alps. A total of 31 German kings and emperors were crowned here between 936 and 1531. The treasure chamber of the cathedral houses one of the most important church treasures in the world with numerous cultural treasures. In 1978 the church treasure and the cathedral were the first German cultural monument to be included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.