Regensburg Cathedral
— — the chant under the high vault.
Not only on a wall.
“The High Gothic cathedral that anchors Regensburg's medieval old town in Bavaria. Construction began in 1273 on the site of an earlier Romanesque church; the twin spires were not completed until 1869. The Domspatzen, the cathedral boys' choir, has sung here in some form since the tenth century, one of the oldest continuously voiced choirs in Europe.
Regensburg Cathedral, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The cathedral sits on the north bank of the Danube in the old town of Regensburg, a city of about 150,000 in eastern Bavaria. The river bends past the south wall, with the twelfth-century Stone Bridge crossing a few hundred metres downstream. The cathedral is the seat of the Diocese of Regensburg and the principal Gothic monument north of the Alps in southern Germany. The wider old town was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2006. Approach is along Krauterermarkt from the south, with the west portal opening onto a small irregular square.
The stone is local Bavarian limestone, quarried near Kelheim and floated down the Danube during the long building campaign. Work began under Bishop Leo der Tundorfer in 1273 and continued, with long pauses, into the sixteenth century; the choir vaults date to roughly 1380. The twin spires, rising to 105 metres, were a nineteenth-century completion in the original High Gothic idiom rather than a Romantic reinvention. The west façade keeps its asymmetric rhythm of tracery, finials, and the small triangular gallery known as the Eselsturm above the nave.
The cathedral is open daily for visitors and for worship; the standard schedule is roughly 6:30 to 18:00 with extended summer hours. Entry to the nave is free. The cloister, treasury, and crypt are part of a small paid tour with set times. Sunday's 10:00 Pontifical Mass features the Regensburger Domspatzen and tends to fill the nave; quieter weekday mornings let the light from the eastern lancet windows fall across the choir floor without competition. Photography is allowed without flash.