St. George's Church

This guide to St. George's Church in Cologne opens with Archbishop Anno the Second forcing rival monks to hand over a relic of Saint George in 1059, and the church he raised around it outside Cologne's old Roman walls. It follows a willow-wood crucifix carved for the new sanctuary soon after, hollowed out to hide that very relic, and asks what became of it across the centuries. Along the way you'll hear how wartime bombing opened the roof in 1945 and what still marks this as an unusual survivor among Cologne's Romanesque churches. Look closely at the columns holding up the arcade as you walk the nave.