Palatine Chapel in Aachen, Palatine chapel in Aachen, Germany
The Palatine Chapel in Aachen is a centrally planned, domed chapel with a sixteen-sided ambulatory and gallery encircling an octagonal dome. Its interior has three levels: large arcades, a tribune, and high windows. The dome, over 33 meters high, rests on an octagonal drum. The chapel is the surviving core of Charlemagne's palace and part of Aachen Cathedral.
Construction of this chapel began in 792 under Charlemagne as part of his palace complex in Aachen. Pope Leo III consecrated it in 805, symbolically connecting the Frankish realm to Rome.
The name derives from the Latin capa, after the relic of Saint Martin of Tours' cloak kept here. From 936, when Otto I was crowned, until 1531, German kings and Holy Roman Emperors received coronation in the chapel. The upper gallery was the royal space, with a throne area opening onto both the liturgy below and the atrium outside.
Access to the chapel is through the adjoining Aachen Cathedral, making it practical to visit both sites together. The interior is relatively compact, but climbing to the upper gallery offers a better perspective of the dome and ceiling details.
The architect Odo of Metz is named in a tenth-century inscription around the dome, which states that Charlemagne founded the building and that Odo completed it; nothing else about him is recorded. The upper gallery was the royal space, with a throne area opening onto both the liturgy below and the atrium outside.
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