St. Maria Lyskirchen, Cologne

St. Maria Lyskirchen is a Romanesque parish church in Cologne's old town featuring a single-nave layout with a recessed chancel. The interior contains ceiling paintings and murals from the 13th century along with late Gothic stained glass fragments and contemporary glass artworks in the sanctuary.

Built between 1210 and 1220, it stands as the only one of Cologne's twelve Romanesque churches designed as a parish church from the start. The structure survived the destruction of World War II with minimal damage, remaining largely intact when much of the city around it was devastated.

The walls display a complete typological picture cycle that connects stories from the Old and New Testaments. This medieval approach to visual religious storytelling served as a way to teach biblical lessons to worshippers who could not read.

The church sits along the Rhine between the Deutz and Severin bridges and welcomes visitors with free access. Reaching it on foot from the Heumarkt tram stop or through the surrounding old town streets is straightforward and convenient.

The church preserves its original ceiling paintings from the 13th century, a feature rarely found in other Cologne churches of this era. This retention of medieval artistic work makes it a particularly valuable record of the city's heritage from that period.