The Domplatz (Cathedral Square) in Erfurt is an enormous open space, the size of six football fields. It is used for markets and all kinds of festivals but on a recent cold, grey February morning, it was virtually deserted and merely offered the wind space to gather speed and attack the few pedestrians merciless with full force. It was cold, freezing cold, but the sights were worth it.

From the square a wide flight of seventy stairs lead to the top of the hill, where the magnificent Dom St Marien (St Mary’s Cathedral) and the abbey church St Severikirche (St Severus Church) await. The Dom dates back to 1154, but the High Gothic choir was added in the fourteenth century and the Romanesque nave was replaced by a wide late-Gothic one, a century later. In one of the towers swings one of the largest bells in the world, the Gloriosa, cast in 1497. In 1507, Martin Luther was ordained a priest in the cathedral.

The main entrance is through a richly decorated Gothic triangular portal, formed by placing two doors obliquely. The interior is disappointingly dark, as a stainless wall completely cordons off the choir that is being restored. A real pity, as the fourteenth century stained glass windows are originals. The current interior is Baroque, but the real treasures are older. A bronze statue candelabrum, the Wolfram, dating from 1160 is considered the oldest freestanding bronze statue in Germany. Some of the other treasures are hidden behind the stainless steel and will have to wait for a return visit.

The church is open from May to October from Monday to Saturday from 9 to 11:30am and 12:30 to 5pm, closing at 4:30pm on Saturdays; from November to April from Monday to Saturday from 10 to 11:30am and 12:30 to 4pm. On Sunday, it is open from 2 to 4 pm, year round. Admission is free and information boards in English are available.

Across the road is the St Severikirche (St Severus Church, a five-nave early Gothic hall church. Its towers have most interesting, tall, sleek spire roofs - the cathedral once had similar ones. They must be any thunderbolts dream. The interior is mostly Baroque but the real treasures are Gothic: the around 1360 sarcophagus of St Severus and the 15m-high baptismal font created in 1467. The church is only open on weekdays, from May to October from 9am to 12:30pm and 1:30 to 5pm, and November to April from 10am to 12:30pm and 1:30 to 4pm.