St Maria im Kapitol

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The view through the historic Dreikoenigenpfoertchen (Three Kings Gate) toward the Basilica of St. Maria im Kapitol in Cologne, Germany.

The striking clover-leaf choir is an architectural feature pioneered at St Maria im Kapitol (maria-im-kapitol.de), an 11th-century Romanesque church where major treasures include the ethereal stained-glass window, ornately carved wooden doors from 1065 and a spectacularly ornate Renaissance rood screen.

The church roughly follows the outline of the ancient Roman temple that stood here before.

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