Photo: architectural monuments, St. Paulus-Dom, North Rhine-Westphalia

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St. Paulus-Dom: masterpieces of Gothic

Architectural Monuments

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The main religious building of the city, where the bishop of Münster is located, is the St. Paul cathedral, also known as the Dome. This is the third church built in this place. The first church at the monastery was erected in the 8th century by St. Ludger. Traces of its foundation were discovered under the gallery and cemetery of the modern cathedral. No exact information has been preserved about the time of construction of the second church, Ottonian cathedral (after the ruling Saxon dynasty). And finally, the third cathedral that reached our days was founded in 1225. Its construction continued for forty years. For more than a century the first and the third churches co-existed in close proximity until in 1377 the Ludger cathedral was taken down.

For centuries St. Paul’s cathedral was repeatedly constructed and reconstructed. It was seriously damaged during World War II but was reconstructed by 1956. It is impossible to list all treasures of the cathedral, but the astronomical clock mounted in 1540-1542 is probably the one most loved by tourists. This is the second version of the clock, the first one being destroyed by Anabaptists in 1534. This miracle of the medieval technology shows not only time, but also lunar phases, location of planets and calendar until 2071. Figures on the clock are not simple decorations. Each hour a mechanical man plays the trumpet, while the female figure next to him rings the bell. Death counts every fifteen minutes, while Kronos standing next to her turns the hourglass. And every day at noon (at 12:30 on Sundays and holidays) you can see three Magi spin around Virgin Mary and baby Jesus accompanied by melodious chiming. You also have to see the cathedral’s treasury where unique samples of textile art and works of goldsmiths are kept.

St. Paulus-Dom: masterpieces of Gothic

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