Marktkirche St. Cosmas und Damian, Romanesque church in Goslar, Germany

Marktkirche St. Cosmas und Damian is a Romanesque church in Goslar's center with a cross-shaped floor plan, two sturdy western towers, and an expanded choir section. The building has side aisles supported by thick walls and stone pillars that create its interior structure.

A predecessor church dedicated to St Nicholas of Myra stood here from the 11th century, probably a Romanesque basilica with three aisles, transept and crossing; the present church is documented as ecclesia forensis in 1151. The Romanesque west front with its two towers survives from that building. The north tower was rebuilt in 1593 as an open lantern after a fire in 1589; a major fire on the night of 14–15 July 1844 destroyed the roof, both towers and the bells, and the church was reconsecrated in 1849.

The church shapes how Goslar's marketplace looks and feels through its two western towers that stand out above the surrounding buildings. The nine medieval stained glass windows from the 13th century show scenes from the lives of Saints Cosmas and Damian and create the quality of light inside.

You can visit the church and take time to walk through the interior to see the architecture and details. Keep in mind it is an active place of worship with regular services, so approach it with respect.

The three bells of 1848 hang in the middle section of the west front, not in the north tower: Johanna weighs 6.8 tonnes with a diameter of 2.21 m, alongside Christina and Paulina. Until 2016 the open lantern of the north tower held an iron hour bell and a quarter-hour bell, since replaced by a historic bronze bell and a new cast.