Aachen Cathedral (Aachener Dom)

Aachen Cathedral was commissioned by Charlemagne around 796 as his palace chapel and became the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in Germany, recognised for its role as the coronation church of thirty German kings between 936 and 1531. At its core stands the octagonal Palatine Chapel, modelled on Byzantine and Ravennate architecture, with a golden dome mosaic and the marble throne of Charlemagne on the upper gallery. A soaring Gothic choir hall, added in the 14th century and known as the 'glass house of Aachen' for its extensive window surface, was built to house the cathedral's most precious relics. Visitors typically spend one to two hours moving between the chapel, choir hall, and the adjoining Cathedral Treasury, which holds the Cross of Lothair, the Bust of Charlemagne, and other imperial regalia. Early morning and weekday visits are quietest, while the cathedral fills with pilgrims and tour groups during the Aachen Pilgrimage held every seven years and around major religious feast days. The best photographs of the octagonal chapel's dome are taken from directly beneath, looking straight up, while the exterior is most striking viewed from the Katschhof square between the cathedral and the neighbouring town hall. A guided tour, offered in English, gives access to areas of the upper gallery not otherwise open to independent visitors and explains the building's Carolingian origins in more depth than a self-guided walk allows.