Speyer Cathedral

Type: Cathedral

Probably as early as 1030 the Salian King and later Emperor Konrad II had the building built with the aim of preserving the largest church in the West. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Stephen. It is known worldwide as Kaiserdom zu Speyer (Imperial Cathedral of Speyer). It is the burial place of the dynasty of the Salian emperors. Pope Pius XI raised the cathedral of Speyer to the rank of a Basilica minor of the Roman Catholic Church in 1925. After the partial destroyed Cluny Abbey during Napoleon’s reign, the Speyer Imperial Cathedral is the largest surviving Romanesque church in the world and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1981.