St. Maria im Kapitol

The largest of Cologne's Romanesque churches, St. Maria im Kapitol stands on the site of a Roman temple to the Capitoline gods, from which it takes its name. Tucked into the streets south of the old market, it is a masterpiece of eleventh-century architecture that rewards those who seek it out.

Its defining feature is the trefoil, or clover-leaf, choir, in which three apses of equal size open off the crossing to form a rounded eastern group. Consecrated around 1065 under the patronage of Abbess Ida, a granddaughter of an emperor, the plan drew on early Christian models from Jerusalem and Rome and set a pattern that influenced later Rhineland churches. The broad, columned nave gives the interior a serene, ancient gravity.

Among its greatest treasures are the carved wooden doors, dating from about 1065, one of the oldest sets of monumental church doors in Germany, their panels showing scenes from the life of Christ in vigorous relief. The church also preserves an intricate Renaissance rood screen and other medieval furnishings, survivors of a long and eventful history.

Severely damaged in the Second World War, St. Maria im Kapitol was painstakingly restored, and today it is both an active church and a quiet monument away from the busiest tourist routes. Entry is free outside services, and the calm, spacious interior offers a contrast to the soaring Gothic of the cathedral a few streets north. Its position near the Rhine and the reconstructed old town makes it an easy addition to a walk through central Cologne, and for admirers of Romanesque architecture it is one of the finest and most atmospheric churches in the whole Rhineland.