St. Maria im Kapitol

St. Maria im Kapitol (St. Mary's in the Capitol) is an 11th-century Romanesque church located in the Kapitol-Viertel in the old town of Cologne, Germany. The Roman Catholic church is based on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, was dedicated to St. Mary and built between 1040 and 1065. It is one of twelve Romanesque churches built in Cologne during this period.

Measuring 100 m x 40 m and encompassing 4,000 square metres of internal space, St. Maria is the largest of the Romanesque churches in Cologne. Like many of the latter, it has an east end which is trefoil in shape, with three apses. It has a nave and aisles and three towers to the west. It is considered the most important work of German church architecture of the Salian dynasty.

History

Maria im Kapitol is said to have been built by Plectrudis, wife of Pippin in the 8th century. Both the foundations of a Roman temple from the late 1st century AD, dedicated to the Capitoline Triad, and of a previous church from the year 690 AD can be visited in the church's crypt.