Groß St. Martin

Up until the 19th century, the mighty central tower of »Gross St. Martin«, together with the incomplete Cathedral tower, was the emblem of Cologne. The start of Gothic architectural style is clearly visible in the horizontally structured Romanesque construction forms.

Groß St. Martin
Address:	An Groß St. Martin 9 50667 Cologne
Phone:	0221/16425650
Opening hours:	Mon. 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. Tue. - Fri. 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m. - 12.30 p.m., 13.30 p.m. - 5 p.m. Sun. 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Remarks:	groups please make an appointment; visits of the excavation site possible
Milestones
10th century	Archbishop Bruno set up a foundation of canons, which soon afterwards became a Benedictine monastery
1172	The consecration of the church was held
1185-1220	As a result of destruction by fires and storms, the central tower was constructed
15th century	The Romanesque church roof of the central tower was replaced by a Gothic cupola
1802	During the course of secularisation, the monastery buildings were destroyed
1939-45	The vault and the tower were destroyed in the Second World War by aerial bombardment
1984	Only now has all construction work been completed

Groß St. Martin was founded around 960 on a former island of the Rhine as a collegiate church and later transformed into a Benedectine monastery. Construction of the main building went on between 1150 and 1250. The church offers a clover-leaf choir, a characteristic slab frieze and a small gallery half-way up the mighty crossing tower. The remains of Roman storehouses can be visited in the crypt.

Particularly impressive is the nave with a height of 25 metres, and the archeological finds from the first and second centuries A.D. which are to be viewed from the northern side aisle. Also worth seeing are the »Crucifixion and Entombment Group« by T. van de Burch from 1509, the triptych of the Magi dating from 1530, and the almost life-sized »Schmerzensmann« from the 16th century.

Adjacent to St. Martin's is the attractive leisure garden between the Rhine and the Old City, and the Hohenzollernbrücke and Deutzer Brücke.