St. Gereon's Basilica
A spectacular Romanesque church with a ten-sided decagon – the largest free-vaulted central building of the Middle Ages north of the Alps.
St. Gereon is one of Cologne's twelve great Romanesque churches and architecturally one of the most extraordinary. At its core lies a late-antique oval central building of the 4th century, rebuilt around 1220 into a vast decagon.
Source: Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-06-24
At a glance
- Style: Late antiquity + Romanesque
- Location: Altstadt-Nord
- Notable: ten-sided domed structure (decagon), c. 1220
- Record: the largest free-vaulted central building of the Middle Ages north of the Alps
A building without equal
As early as the 4th century, a vast oval central building with nine conches arose here over the city's oldest cemetery – one of the most important ancient structures north of the Alps. Around 1220 it was raised into the ten-sided, dome-vaulted decagon. This Hohenstaufen-era space remains unique and makes St. Gereon an architectural highlight of Cologne.
Gallery
Map
Blue dots: other places nearby — tap to explore.
You might also like
© Hans Peter Schaefer Url: http://www.reserv-a-rt.de , saturation by User:elya · CC BY-SA 3.0Great St. Martin Church
One of Cologne's twelve great Romanesque churches – its distinctive crossing tower shapes the old-town skyline by the Rhine.
Comments
- Loading comments…
Sources & links
- 🌐 Official website
- Wikidata (retrieved 2026-06-24)
- Wikipedia (retrieved 2026-06-24, rev 267028610)
- Website (retrieved 2026-06-24)
Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-06-23