St. Aposteln, Cologne, Germany

Posted by MadScientist (Düsseldorf, Germany) on 16 March 2008 in Architecture.

Palm Sunday gives rise to post another church image. This time it's St. Aposteln in Cologne, Germany, one of the Romanesque churches of Cologne. More precisely: the building you see here is a reconstruction, the original church from the 11th century was completely destroyed in WWII. Since the interior isn't very exciting, I'm presenting here a detail shot from outside. This church has a remarkable architecture that I will explain in a future post.

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Comments (8)

Laurent from Lyon, France

Just a pity that the sky is burned, otherwise, I really appreciate the composition.
The funny thing is that my today' shot is also a curch (even a cathedral) but it has also round chapels

16 Mar 2008 5:37am

@Laurent: Yes, that was a hazy day - as it happens often here!
Since I'm posting church photos relatively often here, the chance of thematic overlaps is greatly enhanced :-)

Craig from Vacaville, California, United States

That is quite remarkable indeed!

16 Mar 2008 11:12am

@Craig: Glad you like it! I remember a painting in a museum at Brussels, where this church has been portrayed by a 16th century artist. It was like a message from the past.

Twelvebit from Victoria, United States

Wonderful building. They just don't build them like this anymore, at least in this country.

16 Mar 2008 2:56pm

@Twelvebit: It wouldn't be the same. These buildings are bound to history and religion and so much has changed in the last 100 - 300 years. You could achieve a good copy (some cities in China are built like miniature versions of Paris and other European capitals), but it would just be imitation and completely artificial.

Japanalia from Yokohama, Japan

I like the angle you chose here, it certainly challenges the imagination and makes one wonder about the whole building.

17 Mar 2008 6:56am

@Japanalia: This is a very interesting church with a seldom seen architecture in Western Europe. I'll show you in a future post.

Steven from Chicagoland, United States

I love this composition with the various planes and fenestrations. It adds a lot of interest.

17 Mar 2008 3:11pm

@Steven: A very interesting building with lots of apses, quite unique here.

Michael from Wuppertal, Germany

Wunderschöne Architektur!

17 Mar 2008 8:34pm

@Michael: Ja, die ist toll! Der 'Kleeblattchor' ist ein echter Hingucker, erinnert stark an osteuropäisch / byzantinische Architektur. St. Maria im Kapitol (nicht weit vom Dom entfernt) hat einen ähnlichen Grundriss.