Basilica of St. Severin
Romanesque basilica whose tenth-century relic casket hid silk fragments woven as early as the fourth century.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Basilica of St. Severin in Cologne begins in 1999, when conservators opening a scuffed wooden casket sealed since the tenth century, to dry it out after a rain leak, found something no one expected inside. It traces the silk and linen fragments they uncovered, some woven as early as the fourth century, and the third-century bishop Severin whose grave first drew a chapel to this Roman burial ground. You'll also hear how the site grew, over centuries, into one of twelve great Romanesque churches that once made Cologne a rival to Paris.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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