Top Historic Sights in Speyer, Germany
Explore the historic highlights of Speyer
Speyer Cathedral
Speyer Cathedral was founded by Konrad II in 1030, probably soon after his imperial coronation. It was rebuilt by Henry IV, following his reconciliation with the Pope in 1077, as the first and largest consistently vaulted church building in Europe. The Cathedral was the burial place of the German emperors for almost 300 years. Speyer Cathedral is historically, artistically and architecturally one of the most significant ...Speyer Old Gate
The Old Gate (Altpoertel) is the medieval west city gate of Speyer, and is one of the original 68 towers in the old walls and gates. Today it is one of the largest and most architecturally significant of the remaining city gates in Germany. The Old Gate was built between 1230 and 1250 on the ruins of a previous tower. The bottom of the 13th century tower remains as the foundation but, in 1511, Speyer's mayor ordered that ...Memorial Church
The Gedächtniskirche der Protestation ("The Memorial Church of the Protestation") was built between 1893 and 1904. It was constructed in memory of the protest that took place at the Diet of Speyer by the Protestant states of the Holy Roman Empire in 1529. The tower is the tallest bell tower in the palatinate with 100 m. Its construction was supposed to be a reminder of the protest action that the imperial e ...Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Caerleon Roman Amphitheatre
Built around AD 90 to entertain the legionaries stationed at the fort of Caerleon (Isca), the impressive amphitheatre was the Roman equivalent of today’s multiplex cinema. Wooden benches provided seating for up to 6,000 spectators, who would gather to watch bloodthirsty displays featuring gladiatorial combat and exotic wild animals.
Long after the Romans left, the amphitheatre took on a new life in Arthurian legend. Geoffrey of Monmouth, the somewhat imaginative 12th-century scholar, wrote in his History of the Kings of Britain that Arthur was crowned in Caerleon and that the ruined amphitheatre was actually the remains of King Arthur’s Round Table.
Today it is the most complete Roman amphitheatre in Britain.