Proudly towering over the city, Cologne Cathedral is one of the most visited temple complexes in the world. This amazing building has gone through numerous wars, surviving to our days, and now it is rightfully considered one of the most valuable architectural attractions in the world.
It has a 24-ton bell, the largest in the world of the existing ones. Made it about a hundred years ago. In Germany, there are enough Gothic cathedrals, striking in their beauty, but Cologne among them is the highest. If you transfer old money to modern ones, it turns out that about 1 billion euros were spent on the construction of Cologne Cathedral. The figure is truly astronomical. The ancient building is constantly in need of a small, but expensive repair. And all because the Cologne Cathedral is located in a place with not the best ecology in the industrial region of Germany.
Cologne Cathedral is actually called the Cathedral of Peter and Mary. But among the people it was this name that was fixed. During the Second World War, he survived due to the fact that the pilots did not bomb him. Not out of respect for the building, but because it helped them navigate the area. At the same time, the city of Cologne itself suffered very much from the bombing. Cologne Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its total volume exceeds 400 thousand cubic meters of space. In order to support the huge weight of the building, it was first necessary to build a very powerful foundation. Its weight is approximately equal to the weight of the cathedral itself. Every year, the city authorities spend about 10 million euros on the maintenance of Cologne Cathedral.
They built the Cologne Cathedral for a long time, with interruptions that sometimes dragged on for centuries. In total, if you count from the first works to the final ones, its construction lasted more than 632 years. The longest interruption in construction lasted about 400 years. It has 11 bells installed. They all call regularly. The south tower of Cologne Cathedral is 4 centimeters lower than the north. The area of the windows of the Cologne Cathedral exceeds the area of its floors – about 10 thousand square meters against a little less than 8 thousand. At the place where it is located, almost two thousand years ago were the temples of the early Christians. After completing all the work, Cologne Cathedral for 4 years was the tallest building on our planet. His spire rises 157 meters. The soldiers of Napoleon’s army showed no reverence for the unfinished cathedral. During one of their campaigns at the end of the 18th century, they used it as a warehouse for storing hay intended for feeding horses.
