Cathedral of St Peter (German:
Wormser Dom) is the principal church and chief building of
WormsWorms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over title of "Oldest City in Germany"...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. Along with
SpeyerThe Speyer Cathedral, officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen, in Latin: Domus sanctae Mariae Spirae in Speyer, Germany, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Speyer and is within the Archdiocese of Bamberg. The cathedral, which is dedicated to St...
and
MainzMainz Cathedral or St. Martin's Cathedral is located near the historical center and pedestrianized market square of the city of Mainz, Germany...
, it ranks among the finest
RomanesqueRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe, characterised by semi-circular arches, and evolving into the Gothic style, characterised by pointed arches, beginning in the 12th century...
churches along the
RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
. This magnificent
basilicaThe Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building , usually located in the forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC.Basilicas were also used for religious purposes...
, with four round towers, two large domes, and a choir at each end, has an imposing exterior, though the impression produced by the interior is also one of great dignity and simplicity, heightened by the natural color of the red
sandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow,...
of which it is built.
Cathedral of St Peter (German:
Wormser Dom) is the principal church and chief building of
WormsWorms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over title of "Oldest City in Germany"...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. Along with
SpeyerThe Speyer Cathedral, officially the Imperial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and St Stephen, in Latin: Domus sanctae Mariae Spirae in Speyer, Germany, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Speyer and is within the Archdiocese of Bamberg. The cathedral, which is dedicated to St...
and
MainzMainz Cathedral or St. Martin's Cathedral is located near the historical center and pedestrianized market square of the city of Mainz, Germany...
, it ranks among the finest
RomanesqueRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe, characterised by semi-circular arches, and evolving into the Gothic style, characterised by pointed arches, beginning in the 12th century...
churches along the
RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
. This magnificent
basilicaThe Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building , usually located in the forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC.Basilicas were also used for religious purposes...
, with four round towers, two large domes, and a choir at each end, has an imposing exterior, though the impression produced by the interior is also one of great dignity and simplicity, heightened by the natural color of the red
sandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow,...
of which it is built. The Catholic
Prince-Bishopric of WormsThe Bishopric of Worms was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Located on both banks of the Rhine around Worms just north of the union of that river with the Neckar, it was largely surrounded by the Palatinate. Worms had been the seat of a bishop from Roman times...
ceased to exist in 1800.
Only the ground plan and the lower part of the western towers belong to the original building consecrated in 1110. The remainder was mostly finished by 1181, but the west choir and the
vaultingA Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert a thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
were built in the 13th century, the elaborate south portal was added in the 14th century, and the central dome has been rebuilt.
The ornamentation of the older parts is simple; even the more elaborate later forms show no high development of workmanship. Unique sculptures depicting
salvationIn religion, salvation is the concept that God or other Higher Power, as part of Divine Providence, "saves" humanity from spiritual death or eternal damnation by providing for them an eternal life...
stories appear above the
GothicGothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
-era south doorway. The
baptismal fontA baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:The fonts of many Christian denominations are intended for baptisms using a non-immersion method, such as aspersion or affusion. The simplest of these fonts has...
contains five remarkable stone reliefs from the late 15th century. The church's original windows were destroyed by bombing in 1943; between 1965 to 1995 new windows were made by Mainz artist
Alois PlumAlois Johannes Plum is an artist working in Mainz, Germany, who has acquired a national reputation for his stained glass, his paintings , and his plastic art. Active since the 1950s, his work decorates hundreds of churches and public buildings in Germany...
.
The cathedral is 110 m long, and 27 m wide, or, including the
transeptFull descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram.
For the periodical go to The Transept....
s, which are near the west end, 36 m (inner measurements). The height in the nave is 26 m; under the domes it is 40 m.
Burials
- Conrad I, Duke of Carinthia
Conrad I , of the Salian Dynasty, was the duke of Carinthia from 1004. He was the third son Duke Otto I and thus brother of both Henry of Speyer, father of the Emperor Conrad II, and Bruno, who was pope as Gregory V. He outlived both those elder brothers and his father.Along with his father, he was...
- Conrad II, Duke of Carinthia
Conrad II , called the Younger, was the Salian duke of Carinthia from 1035. His father, Conrad I died in 1011 when he was a minor. Adalbero of Eppenstein was given the duchy of Carinthia...
- Conrad, Duke of Lorraine
Conrad the Red was a Duke of Lorraine from the Salian dynasty.He was the son of Werner V, Count of the Nahegau, Speyergau, and Wormsgau. His mother was a sister of Conrad I of Germany. In 941, he succeeded his father in his counties and obtained an additional territory, the Niddagau...
- Henry of Speyer
Henry of Speyer or Heinrich von Speyer, also called Graf im Wormsgau was the father of the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II....
- Queen Matilda (d. 1034), consort of Henry I of France
Henry I was King of France from 1031 to his death. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians...
and daughter of Conrad II, Holy Roman EmperorConrad II was the son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, who inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty...