Last year I had the opportunity to take a Viking River Cruise in Europe and I have been sharing that experience with you here on the blog. I have only been able to share three days of my trip with you so far and unfortunately, I am still on Cologne, Germany, which we visited on Easter Sunday last year. I know, hurry up and get going, why don’t ya? I hear you and I hope to get these trip posts all knocked out before Easter comes around this year!
Well, I am still talking about the Cathedral in Cologne, too. The Cathedral in Cologne is one of Unesco’s World Heritage Sites. Construction began in 1248 and was completed in 1880. Because of it’s age and other factors such as pollution and World War II, the Cathedral, or Dom as it is also called is in a permanent state of reconstruction these days. The Gothic architecture has so many elements that are deteriorating that the city has a resident Cathedral Architect just to supervise the work. And there is a lot of work being done. For instance, this large Fleuron Model in front of the church gives you an idea of how large the tops of the spires are on the Dom. This model was well over 10 feet tall.
And on the South side of the church there is a workshop at ground level where you can see quite a few of the pieces that are being worked on, like the top of one of the spires above. You can see the damage that has occurred over time.
In fact, there is a whole bunker of items to be restored below street level that you van view.
Like this gargoyle! Oh, how wonderful to be able to see it up close. I have always been fascinated by gargoyles and still cannot believe that they are just fancy water spouts or drains. They are works of art! And the Dom is full of gargoyles. I bet there are hundreds of them. I could only photograph a few.
Here you can see some of the scaffolding high up on the church where they were currently working on a section. And you can see where one of the gargoyles on the left had seen better days. It seemed like wherever there was a corner or place for water to escape there was a gargoyle.
This picture is in color showing four of the gargoyles high above.
Here is the same view in black and white. I just like how they look in black and white.
They are everywhere.
There are animals, some realistic and some mythical.
There are the ones with human form, again some realistic and some mythical. I like the eyes on this one.
Here you can see a plaque from 1983, showing when work was done on this section. And there is some scaffolding on the right where more work is being done.
See, they are everywhere. And this is just one small section on the South side of the Dom.
This is one of the mythical looking creatures. Looks like a demon to me. He is high up on the church and has wings.
I am sure each of these represents some kind of story or historical figure.
This little guy has what appears to be a metal patch on his back. The church is made of various kinds of sandstone and I am sure these little guys are, too. Hence, the deterioration throughout the years.
You can see the scaffolding in the background behind these two critters that almost look like they are yelling at each other with their open mouths.
It would probably be pretty amazing to see these in action when water comes spewing out all those little mouths all around the Cathedral.
And I cannot even imagine what it must cost to keep this site maintained. It is an amazing landmark in the city of Cologne. And it is amazing what they have been able to reconstruct since World War II. Thank goodness it was not completely flattened like the rest of Cologne. It took over 600 years to build yet the reconstruction appears to have gone much more quickly. I am glad that this wonderful site has been preserved and continues to be preserved for others. It truly is amazing!
This is not a sponsored post. This is my experience from my trip with Viking River Cruises. Email me to find out how you can save $100 when you book your first cruise with Viking through their referral program.
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