The cathedral at Aachen incorporates more than 1200 years of history into one building. The heart of the church is the octagonal Palatine chapel. It was built during the reign of Karl Der Große (Charlemagne ca A.D. 800) as a two story church. Many renovations, demolitions and expansions have produced the current structure. Thirty kings and twelve queens were crowned here over the centuries.

The image above was taken from the original chapel looking toward the 14th century choir that was modeled after Ste. Chapelle in Paris. The reliquary or shrine in the lower center reputedly contains the robe of Mary, the swaddling clothes and loincloth of Christ, and the beheading cloth of John the Baptist. The shrine is opened periodically for viewing.

The image below shows the verticality of the original chapel. At the time of construction it was the tallest building north of the Alps. The mosaic in the ceiling is a 19th century creation in the mode of medieval mosaics. Some of the columns are thought to have come from Rome. The 12-sided chandelier hanging from the roof represents the heavenly Jerusalem. It was donated by the emperor Frederic Barbarossa in 1165.

The arches and vaults of the ambulatory around the chapel shift kaleidoscopically as one walks around.

In this view of the church, the Palatine chapel is bracketed by the gothic addition and the Gothic superstructure over the original narthex.

The choir, with its stained glass walls, contrasts with the heavier central chapel. The reliquary at the bottom of the photo is reputed to contain the bones of Charlemagne. At the very least it contains the bones of a tall man who died early in the 9th century, so the tradition has credibility.