Great St Martin Church
Great St Martin Church features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Cologne. Give it roughly ~30 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type religious
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Cologne Cologne guide
About Great St Martin Church
The great Romanesque church whose distinctive crossing tower dominates the Old Town skyline, one of Cologne's twelve famous Romanesque churches.
Great St Martin (Groß St. Martin) is one of the most recognisable buildings in Cologne after the cathedral, its massive square crossing tower and four corner turrets rising above the gabled roofs of the Old Town beside the Rhine. Built mainly in the 12th and 13th centuries, it is one of the twelve great Romanesque churches of Cologne, an extraordinary concentration of Romanesque architecture unmatched anywhere in Germany, a legacy of the city's wealth and religious importance in the Middle Ages. Like almost everything in the old town, it was devastated in the Second World War; its reconstruction was painstaking and was not completed until 1985. The church stands on the site of a Roman-era complex, and excavations beneath it have revealed Roman swimming pools and warehouses from the riverside port of ancient Cologne.
Did you know? Cologne has twelve great Romanesque churches built between the 10th and 13th centuries, the finest collection of Romanesque architecture in the German-speaking world.
How long is a visit to Great St Martin Church?
Set aside roughly ~30 min for Great St Martin Church. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Great St Martin Church worth your time?
Great St Martin Church is among the 8 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Cologne, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Cologne
Hear the story of Great St Martin Church
Preview the Cologne tour free in the Gingerguide app.