We boarded the bus after lunch for an afternoon excursion to Aachen and Charlemagne’s Cathedral and Treasury.
We walked through the courtyard past the cathedral toward the treasury.
The cathedral treasury holds about 120 extraordinary works, unique in their amazing artistry and craftsmanship. The works impress with their high artistic and craftsmanship quality and their uniqueness. They all bear witness to the founding of the now Aachen Cathedral by Charlemagne, the 1,200 year history of the church, the pilgrimages to the shrine, and the historical significance of the church as the coronation church of German kings.
To this day, no other work of art determines our idea of Charlemagne like this portrait.
Created five and a half centuries after Charlemagne’s death, the ideal image of the ruler is presented here. It contains an important relic – part of Charlemagne’s skullcap inside the head – making the portrait a reliquary.
The Lothar Cross was created in the last quarter of the 10th century. It is one of the most famous gemstone crosses of the Middle Ages. Its sides, which are symbolically equivalent, are designed very differently. One side shows Christ at the moment of death on the cross in a fine engraving, the other is decorated with magnificent gemstones.
The Golden Book Cover is a testament to the interplay of Eastern and Western art in the Ottonian period. The Byzantine ivory panel, formerly part of a private folding altar, shows an image of the Virgin Mary that was particularly revered in the Byzantine Empire, the Hodegetria (ancient Greek for “guide”), pointing to the Christ Child. The panel was placed in the middle of a book cover that was to be used at the beginning of the 11th century to re-cover the Carolingian Gospel Book, which was already 200 years old at the time.
One incredible work of art after the other…literally could have spent the day…or a week more to admire, but time on a tour is limited, so on to the cathedral.
The impressive metal entry doors show evidence of the damage done by a nazi machine gun…left as a reminder.
Entering gives just a quick glimpse of one of the most impressively appointed cathedrals we’ve ever been in.
Although Charlemagne’s throne was inexplicably not the way we think of “his/her majesty’s royal throne”. But many, many monarchs were crowned in this “chair”.
The gold, mosaics, marble, glass were examples of the best seen anywhere in the world. The craftsmanship beyond measure.
The golden reliquary contains actual bones from Charlemagne — confirmed by scientific testing based on reports about his exceptional height (often said to be over 7 feet tall — in actuality these bones came from a person just over six feet…probably a full head over all his contemporaries).
Back to the ship for the daily orientation talk about tomorrow’s activities and other local information, cocktail hour, dinner, strolls on deck in the waning light…that goes on until well after 10 pm. Always shocked that it’s really time for bed.
