One of the best panoramas over the ancient city of Cologne is from within one of the cars of the Rhein-Seilbahn, the first and only cable car in Europe that was designed to span a major river. The Rhein-Seilbahn stretches between a point near the zoo, in the district of Cologne-Riehl, to the Rheinpark in Cologne-Deutz, a total of about 900m (3,000 ft.). From the air, you'll get a good view of the busy river traffic along the Rhine. The cable car operates March 15 to November 2 daily 10am to 6pm. A one-way ticket costs 4€ ($6.40) for adults, 2.40€ ($3.90) for children; a round-trip ticket costs 6€ ($9.60) for adults, 3.50€ ($5.60) for children. For more information, call tel. 0221/5474184.
Churches
Cologne has 12 important Romanesque churches, all within the medieval city wall. Devastated during World War II, they have been almost completely restored and again recapture Cologne's rich early medieval heritage. St. Panteleon, Am Pantaleonsberg 2 (U-Bahn: Poststrasse), built in 980, has the oldest cloister arcades remaining in Germany. St. Gereon, Gereonsdriesch 2-4 (U-Bahn: Christophstrasse), is elliptically shaped, with a decagon between its two towers. It contains the tomb of St. Gereon and other martyrs, and its crypt still has mosaics from the 11th century. St. Severin, Severinstrasse 1 (U-Bahn: Severinstrasse), originated as a late-4th-century memorial chapel; the present church dates from the 13th to the 15th centuries.
The church of St. Ursula (1135), Ursulaplatz (U-Bahn: Hauptbahnhof), is on the site of a Roman graveyard. Legend has it that St. Ursula, patron saint of Cologne, was martyred in Cologne with her 11,000 virgin companions in about 451. St. Maria im Kapitol, Kasinostrasse 6 (U-Bahn: Heumarkt), is on the site where Plectrudis, wife of Pippin (dim figures of the Dark Ages, significant because Plectrudis is one of the few women who had political power in the area, as she was the daughter of an important land owner), built a church in the early 8th century. The cloverleaf choir of the present structure was modeled on that of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. St. Aposteln, Neumarkt 30 (U-Bahn: Neumarkt), and Gross St. Martin, on the Rhine in the Altstadt (U-Bahn: Heumarkt), also have the cloverleaf choir design.
St. Georg, Am Waidmarkt (U-Bahn: Poststrasse), the only remaining Romanesque pillared basilica in the Rhineland, contains an impressive forked crucifix from the early 14th century. Cäcilienkirche (St. Cecilia's Church), Cäcilienstrasse 29 (U-Bahn: Neumarkt), is the site of the Museum Schnütgen for sacred art . St. Andreas, near the cathedral (U-Bahn: Hauptbahnhof), contains a wealth of late Romanesque architectural sculpture. The remaining two Romanesque churches are on the Rhine: St. Kunibert, Kunibertskloster 2 (U-Bahn: Hauptbahnhof), and St. Maria Lyskirchen, Am Lyskirchen 12 (U-Bahn: Heumarkt), both of 13th-century origin.
