The Aachener Dom is one of the great medieval buildings of Europe — a UNESCO World Heritage site, the oldest cathedral in northern Europe still in regular use, and the place where thirty Holy Roman Emperors were crowned between 936 and 1531. Charlemagne built the original octagonal Palatine Chapel between 796 and 805 AD, modelled on San Vitale in Ravenna and financed by the wealth of a continent-spanning empire. The golden mosaic of Christ in Majesty that covers the interior dome is a 19th-century replacement, but the marble columns, reportedly brought from Rome and Ravenna, are original.
The Gothic choir, added in the 14th century, holds the Shrine of the Magi — a twelfth-century gold reliquary studded with gems and enamel panels. The Treasury next door is one of the finest collections of medieval sacred art in the world: Charlemagne's marble throne, on which emperors sat for their coronation, is still here. The atmosphere inside is extraordinary at any time of day; arrive early before the tour groups to appreciate the scale and the quality of the light.