Aachen Cathedral

Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

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Aachen Cathedral in Aachen, Germany, is one of Europe’s oldest and most important churches, originally built between about 793 and 813 as Charlemagne’s palace chapel and later becoming his burial place and the coronation church for German kings from 936 to 1531.

Its core is the octagonal Palatine Chapel, a masterpiece of Carolingian architecture modeled on San Vitale in Ravenna, featuring a domed central space surrounded by an upper gallery, rich marbles, and bronze doors, later expanded with a tall Gothic choir of glass and stone that earned it the nickname “Glass House.”

Designated in 1978 as Germany’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, the cathedral combines Carolingian, Gothic, Ottonian, and Baroque elements, housing important relics, Charlemagne’s throne, and an ornate shrine that make it both a major pilgrimage destination and a symbol of European cultural heritage.