Germany and the Enclave Tour Autumn 2015, Part 15: Aachen Cathedral, a small but gorgeous and beautiful World Heritage Site

Germany and the enclave Tour 2015 autumn
Germany and the enclave Tour 2015 autumn

A very historic “little” cathedral, a world heritage site within a world heritage site!

Visit Date: October 29, 2015

From Cologne to Aachen, a short visit to Cologne Cathedral

It was the day after the wonderful concert. First of all, I dropped by Cologne Cathedral for a while before I left Cologne where I stayed for the night.

Then we finished the tour and went to the parking lot. Today, we will first go to a city called “Aachen” near the Dutch border. The place is around here. It is a town near the border of Holland and Belgium.

It took us about 50 minutes from Cologne on the autobahn. We were able to find a parking lot near the old town smoothly.

Aachen Cathedral with a long history

さて、このアーヘンという街に来た目的はもちろん世界遺産に選ばれている「アーヘン大聖堂」を見るため。この大聖堂、実はヨーロッパにおいても大変古く非常に重要な大聖堂として名高いのです。

アーヘン大聖堂はしばしば「皇帝の大聖堂」(ドイツ語:Kaiserdom)として言及され、この大聖堂は北部ヨーロッパでは最古のものである。786年にカール大帝がアーヘンの宮殿教会の建設を始めた。814年にカール大帝が死ぬと彼は自身の大聖堂に埋葬され、彼の骨はいまも特別の神殿に保存されている。 大聖堂は、一千年以上の時を経て、現在の装いを調えた。 アーヘン大聖堂の中心は宮殿教会である。それは後世の増築部分と比較すると驚くほど小さいが、建設当時は、それはアルプス以北では最大のドーム建築であった。 古典主義様式、ビザンティン様式そしてゲルマン様式-フランク王国様式の要素を備えた心を奪う建築は、きわめて重要な記念碑的建造物の真髄である。アーヘン大聖堂は、936年から1531年にかけての約600年間に神聖ローマ帝国の30人の皇帝たちの戴冠式が執り行われた場所でもある。(wikipediaより)

そんな歴史的価値の高さもあり当然のように世界遺産に選ばれております。しかも、世界遺産というものが誕生した初年度に登録されたという「元祖」世界遺産とも言える大聖堂なのです。

1978年この大聖堂はユネスコの世界遺産リストの登録のための最初の12の遺跡の一つになった。最初のドイツのそして最初のヨーロッパの歴史上全般3つの遺跡の一つとしてである。(wikipediaより)

I headed there as soon as I parked my car. It’s a few minutes walk from the parking lot, it’s close.

まず到着してびっくりしたのはそのサイズ。[highlight]とても小さい[/highlight]の です。初めは本当に世界遺産?がっかり世界遺産なの?と疑ってしまいました。

写真では伝わりづらいのですが、まず大聖堂周辺の広場が狭かったです。普通、大聖堂前って結構なスペースがあって、たくさんの観光客や大道芸人みたいな人で賑わっているイメージですが、観光客はちらほらいる程度、簡単に数えられるほどしかいません。大道芸人など全くいません。そういったスペースがあまりないといった方が適切でしょうか。確かに、前述のwikipdia(抜粋)の中にも「後世の増築部分と比較すると驚くほど小さい」とあります。

それにしても、今朝見てきたばかりのケルン大聖堂は逆にゴシック建築の中では最大ですから、なんとも対照的な大聖堂をこの1時間あまりで見比べてしまったことになります。

There was a small model near the entrance. This also seemed to have aged nicely. I didn’t know when this was made, but it was registered in 1978, so I guess these modern monuments are also from a certain period of time.

Now let’s go inside. You can enter from the picture below. It looks high because of the vertical shot, but actually it is not so high. Admission is basically free.

なお、内部の写真はお金を払えば撮影可能とのこと。入口に説明書きがありました。内部の係の人にお金を払って、このようなリボンをもらいます。

It’s hard to tell where the attendant is, but if you have a prominent camera like a single-lens reflex camera, I think you’ll be fine because he’ll talk to you on his own while you’re shooting for a while. That’s what happened to me too.

The inside of the cathedral is gorgeous.

I stepped inside and was surprised at how gorgeous it was. I didn’t expect it to be so gorgeous and beautiful from the outside. Anyway, the golden glow is magnificent. Not only the glitter, but also the beauty of its architecture is wonderful.

The roots of the church are in the Holy Roman Empire, so naturally it is a Catholic church, but the fact that it is not so Gothic makes it even more attractive. I wonder if this is the weight of history.

If you look at this ceiling, for example, it has a Byzantine feel to it.

The mosaic on the ceiling here is also something you don’t see in many churches in Northern Europe.

And this “glass chapel” was exceptionally beautiful.

The Treasure House is a must-see.

Next, we went to the Treasury, which is located a little bit away from the cathedral. There were many gorgeous collections related to Karl the Great here too. Although it’s small, it’s worth seeing. It is a must-see spot along with the cathedral.

By the way, you can buy a ticket for the Treasure House at the tourist information center on the other side of the Treasure House. At that time, I got a map of this town. Basically, I had already visited the highlights…

There are many World Heritage Sites that are disappointing, but the original Aachen Cathedral is definitely one of the best World Heritage Sites. It’s in a city that’s easy to get to by train from Cologne, so it’s definitely worth a visit.

Aachen’s famous pudding ten was not so good.

By the way, Aachen is famous for the sweets called “Printen”. The shop called “Nobis” in front of the cathedral is especially famous. There was a nice café there, so I had a coffee and a cake and bought some Printen on the way back.

The coffee and cake were delicious.

This is Princeton, they say. The showcase is very nice.

But to be honest, this pudding ten was not so good (laugh). I ate it while riding in the car afterwards, but I didn’t like it. It’s not that it’s not tasty, but I think it’s just a matter of personal taste.

さあ、次はオランダに入国です。(続く)

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