Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral), Cologne

Favorite thing: In 1964, when I left my children with my mother and went to meet my husband's ship in Europe, I sent periodic postcards to my daughter.

This one had two 20 DM stamps

Fondest memory: ..

Dear Daughter

We are going to see this church this morning. So far we haven't left the airport. I was one of the first through customs. I showed my passport, identified my bag, and had nothing to declare. If the Poste opens before we leave, I'll mail this.

Love
Mummy

Favorite thing: Of course, the Dom (Cathedral) may be the biggest highlight, as it is one of the largest buildings ever built. It is situated near the train station and is surrounded by a bustling shopping area. Another nice area is Rhine Park, which offers beautiful views of the river and the city. On a nice day, take the cable car across the Rhine. It leaves from the zoo, and you can buy a one way or round trip ticket. Another nice activity is to visit Flora, the beautiful botanical gardens. They have huge outdoor gardens, as well as indoor exhibits, such as a rainforest. Entrance is free.

Favorite thing: Look up & you'll see 2 spires. 157 m in height, Cologne Cathedral was built in 1248 but was not completed until 1880!


Fondest memory: Frankly, I'm not one who'd fall in love with a cathedral that is black in color. I like things bright & sunny, especially with regards to a place of worship :-).

Favorite thing: Just like this photo, my memory of Cologne Cathedral is very fuzzy. Coupled with the fact that we have just visited Rome, Venice, Florence & Vatican before this made it another Cathedral to keep up with. It somewhat lacks the flamboyance of the Italian basilica & the glorious history behind it.
Nonetheless, it is still an amazing cathedral, one that took 632 years to complete! 632 year!!! Oh my, it's mind-boggling to me! What were those people doing with their time all those years!

Favorite thing: The single most outstanding feature of Cologne has got to be its Cathedral. It's immense and quite ornate from the outside. To be honest, I found the inside a let down by comparison - it was akin to Durham, but Durham doesn't have the sort of ornate exterior that leads you to expect even more inside...

Favorite thing: The Kölner Dom is already the main point in town and forgetting to make a visit to it is like not going to eat at dinner. The Dom is in the heart of the town and around it are many meetingplaces for the citizens as well as the visitors.

Fondest memory: Irina's first inside visit to a non-Orthodox church was in the Kölner-dom. Can you imagine how overwhelmed she was? We spend a few hours, just sitting in this magnificent building that miraculously survived the bombing-raits during WW-II. From the outside, the Dom is already a true work of art and inside this only is underlined.

Favorite thing: For 3DM (half that if you have a student card) you can climb the cathedral tower and look at the bells. The main reason for this, obviously, is to look at the view from the top, although 552 steps is quite a climb, especially when it is crowded, the staircase is narrow and spiral, and for the first 300 there is only one route for ascending and descending, so there are plenty of 'traffic jams'. The viewing platform is a bit cramped (but I don't suppose it can be helped, really!) but the views are spectacular. (Sorry, I've forgotten to scan my photo of the view, so you'll have to imagine it for now!!!)

Favorite thing: If you arrive by train, the first thing you will see upon exiting the station is the famous Cologne Cathedral towering above you. All the guidebooks rave about its beauty, but I found it a bit of a let down to be honest....probably not what you wanted to hear. Yes, it is quite beautiful, and it certainly is large, but not as impressive as I was expecting it to be. Somehow, it managed to escape being bombed by the Allies during WWII, which is very odd, as the neighbourhood surrounding the cathedral is all fairly modern, having been totally destroyed. But you can't come to Cologne without entering the cathedral (in German 'Dom'), and as it is free to enter, you have no excuse, although I think it would be much more impressive without all the tour groups, and it is well on the way to becoming some sort of religious zoo.