St. Gereon's Basilica, Cologne, Germany

St. Gereon's Basilica (Basilika Sankt Gereon) was first mentioned in 612. However, the building of the choir gallery, apse, and transepts occurred later, beginning under Archbishop Arnold II von Wied in 1151 and ending in 1227. It is one of twelve great churches in Cologne that were built in the Romanesque style.

St. Gereon has a highly irregular plan, the nave being covered by a decagonal oval dome, 21.0 m long and 16.9 m wide, completed in 1227 on the remains of Roman walls, which are still visible. It is the largest dome built in the West between the erection of the Hagia Sophia in the 6th century and the Duomo of Florence in the 15th century.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Brian Goemans (6 months ago)
One of the Romanesque gems in Bonn. With stunning examples of Roman structure and later development. Well worth visiting. The decagonal dome and baptismal chapel are not to be missed

Okan Özkara (6 months ago)
St. Gereon is the most important late antique sacral building in Cologne and the most important royal church of the East Franconian Empire hence it deserves a visit, I believe.

C S (2 years ago)
Such a beautiful, peaceful church.

Mayur Anandani (2 years ago)
Amazing architecture! When we visited the place, we were all by ourselves. The caretaker was a lovely person. He gave a tour of the whole place, gave us a piece of it's history, showed us which parts were untouched since building and which parts were rebuilt after it's part-destruction during the war. Currently and until January 2022 there is some art display inside, which was also interesting.

Ernesto Rodriguez (2 years ago)
Hidden gem currently being restored

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