This cathedral is a marvelous mix of the very old and the very modern. The inside is a very appealing rosy color stone. The windows are plain glass or new colored glass, and I had to wonder if before the war they were stained glass. The capitals of the columns are a beautiful red with gold leaves.

Historically, St. Bartholomew’s has served as the main place of worship for the Carolingian court and from 1562 on it replaced Aachen as the location of the Imperial coronations. Though technically not a cathedral, it has earned this title because of its importance.

Excavations have proven that a church was on this site serving the Frankish court in the 7th century. As you approach the cathedral, you will encounter some of the archeological excavations and you can walk down into them.

The treasury costs 2 euros to visit, and it is well worth the price. During renovations in the early 1990s, a 7th-century grave was discovered. It contained a Merovingian girl, and the items that were found in the grave are now on display in this museum. They include some gold jewelry and some pottery fragments. The case with this display is the first one as you enter the museum.

As you would expect with a cathedral museum, the majority of the exhibits are of a religious nature. There is a spectacular gold chalice

with a base that has engravings done in the style of Albrecht Durer. There is also a gold monstrance dating from the 15th century. The St. Bartholomew reliquaries are also pieces worth searching out.

There are cases filled with splendid vestments whose embroidery will amaze you, not only but its intricacy but because it has survived for so many centuries. The cathedral and the museum can be done in under an hour.

The impressive west tower of the Dom originates from the 15th Century and was completed about 1860. You can normally climb to a viewing platform atop the gothic tower for some nice views of the city, but unfortunately scaffolding is shrouding the top these days. The interior is dark, as the deep red sandstone creates an earthy mood inside. Note that the would-be lines of stone are actually drawn on in white in the modern reconstruction, so this creates a bit of a kitschy look to this discerning eye. A few bits of the original interior remain, like the choir stalls and the "Altar of Mary Sleeping" from 1434.

There is a museum adjacent to the entrance in the cloister of the church, with its main exhibit of imperial robes, vestments and architectural studies. The Dom Museum is closed on Mondays.

To the west of the Dom is the Historischer Garten, an archaeological plaza with some old ruins of fortifications from Roman and Carolingian times, and a seating area designated as a rest spot for seniors, most of whom are not as old as the fortifications.