The Basilica church of St. Ursula (, ) is located in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is built upon the ancient ruins of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

, where the 11,000 virgins associated with the legend of

Saint Ursula Saint Ursula (Latin for 'little female bear', german: link=no, Heilige Ursula) is a legendary Romano-British Christian saint who died on 21 October 383. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is 21 October. There is little infor ...

are said to have been buried. The church has an impressive

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...

created from the bones of the former occupants of the cemetery. It is one of the

twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne The twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne are twelve landmark churches in the Old town ''(Altstadt)'' of Cologne, Germany. All twelve churches are Catholic. Churches The twelve churches are1: * St. Andreas in Altstadt-Nord, est. 974 * St. Ap ...

and was designated a

Minor Basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

on 25 June 1920. While the nave and main tower are Romanesque, the choir has been rebuilt in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style.

The Golden Chamber

The Golden Chamber, or Goldene Kammer, of the church contains the alleged remains of St. Ursula and her 11,000 virgins who are said to have been killed by the Huns, possibly around the time of the

Battle of the Catalaunian Plains The Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (or Fields), also called the Battle of the Campus Mauriacus, Battle of Châlons, Battle of Troyes or the Battle of Maurica, took place on June 20, 451 AD, between a coalition – led by the Roman general ...

. There are various theories relating to the origin of the legend of the 11,000 virgins - one is that the original legend said 11 virgins accompanied St. Ursula, but later readings misread the abbreviation "M" for martyrs as latin numeral "M" for 1000, which over time lead to 11,000. The walls of the Golden Chamber are covered in bones arranged in designs and/or letters along with relic skulls. The exact number of people whose remains are in the Golden Chamber remains ambiguous but the number of skulls in the reliquary is greater than 11 and less than 11,000. These remains were found in 1106 in a mass grave and were assumed to be those of the legend of St. Ursula and the 11,000 virgins. Therefore, the church constructed the Golden Chamber to house the bones. The bones themselves are neatly arranged in "zigzags and swirls and even in the shapes of Latin words."

References

Literature

* Heinz Firmenich: ''St. Ursula und die Maria-Ablaß-Kapelle in Köln''. Rheinischer Verein für Denkmalpflege und Landschaftsschutz, Köln 1976, *

Werner Schäfke Werner may refer to: People * Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name Fictional characters * Werner (comics), a German comic book character * Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...

: ''Kölns romanische Kirchen. Architektur Kunst Geschichte.'' Emons, Köln 2004, *

Hiltrud Kier Hiltrud Kier (née Arnetzl; born 30 June 1937) is an Austrian art historian and academic. She was city conservator to Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-West ...

Ulrich Krings Ulrich (), is a German given name, derived from Old High German ''Uodalrich'', ''Odalric''. It is composed of the elements '' uodal-'' meaning "(noble) heritage" and ''-rich'' meaning "rich, powerful". Attested from the 8th century as the name of Al ...

: ''Die Romanischen Kirchen in Köln'', Vista Point Verlag, Köln 1991, * Gernot Nürnberger:
Die Ausgrabungen in St. Ursula zu Köln
' Dissertation, Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn 2002 *Sabine Czymmek, Die Kölner romanischen Kirchen, Schatzkunst, Bd. 2, Köln 2009 (= Colonia Romanica, Jahrbuch des Fördervereins Romanische Kirchen Köln e. V., Bd. XXIII, 2008), S. 225-289,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ursula Innenstadt, Cologne Roman Catholic churches in Cologne Basilica churches in Germany 5th-century churches Romanesque architecture in Germany Ossuaries

The Golden Chamber

See also

References

Literature

External links