Aachen - Cathedral

This "Imperial Cathedral" was known as the "Royal Church of St. Mary at Aachen" during the Middle Ages. From 936 to 1531, the Aachen chapel was the church of coronation for 30 German kings and 12 queens.

In 792 Charlemagne (aka "Charles the Great", "Karl der Grosse") began the construction of a palace here and part of the whole structure was this "Palatine Chapel". Pope Leo III consecrated the chappel in 805.

Standing on the "Katschof", a place that was part of the palace-area, north of the cathedral. Here were the corridors of power around 800. The carolingian octogon is the middle part of the building. The gothic choir on the left was added later. Parts of the westwork to the right date back to the carolingian structure, but the tower is way newer.

The carolingian octogon, having a baroque roof now, was planned by the Odo of Metz, who obviously had seen Byzantine churches. For sure he had had seen the Basilica of San Vitale of Ravenna, as San Vitale seems to be a model of this chapel.

The Palatine Chapel was a model for many buildings constructed later. One of these can be found in a small alsatian village of Ottmarsheim, about 500 kilometers southeast.
Have a look: www.flickr.com/photos/martin-m-miles/4185485507/

The cathedral has a very nice website - in German:
www.aachendom.de/

Wikipedia has one
in English: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen_Cathedral
and French: fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cath%C3%A9drale_d%27Aix-la-Chapelle