Speyer - Cathedral

Speyer gained importance, when the Salian dynasty entered the political stage with Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II. He commissioned the construction of of this church, known as the "Imperial Cathedral of Speyer". lt was planned to be the largest cathedral worldwide. A display of the Emperor´s power, that was - before the "Investiture Controversy" - secular and ecclesiastical.

This "blueprint" from about 1025/1030 got changed later and the even enlarged cathedral was completed in 1106, the year Conrad´s grandson Emperor Henry IV died.

The crypt of the cathedral, consecrated in 1041, is the largest Romanesque columned hall crypt in Europe, with an area of 850 m². The crypt is so large, that it is impossible to give an impression
by just one photo, so I´ll upload a couple of shots. In the background to the right is the same the central chapel of the crypt as before, visible here is the right aisle.

There are more than 40 groin vaults. The sandstones alternate in colour, a design often used in romanesque architecture (e.g. Vezelay) that may be connected to Mozarabic art.

As the history of the cathedral is really complex, I add the Wikipedia-links here:

english:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speyer_Cathedral
french:
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cath%C3%A9drale_Notre-Dame-de-l%27A...
german:
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speyerer_Dom

"Europaeische Stiftung Kaiserdom zu Speyer" has a very good website, but only in German:
www.dom-speyer.de/index.html