08 January 2013

Magnificent Mosaics

Our trip to Aachen was cold and miserable.  It was challenging to stay warm, my fingers cramped up all the time.   At least we found a mall where we could have coffee at McDonald's, and where we saw this big guy.  We had a lot of fun taking pictures with him.



Later though we walked into a church to get warm.  It was one of the best finds of the trip.  We found ourselves in the Palantine Chapel of the Aachen cathedral.  There are double arches in this area, and a high domed octagonal ceiling.  Every single surface is covered with beautiful mosaic work.  The subtleties in colour and in style were nothing short of incredible, and I could only imagine how long it had taken hundreds of workmen to find or make the tiles and craft the mosaics.  The dome itself has Christ on the throne, surrounded by 24 elders of the apocalypse.

We stayed here much longer than we needed for warmth. We stayed for the imagining of who may have designed the panels, and for appreciating the hours that went into crafting them around 1870-73.

Sometimes the best finds are those you stumble onto--and I'm so glad it was a cold and miserable day so we did.