Editing Cologne Cathedral (section)

== Architecture ==
{{See also|Finials of Cologne Cathedral}}

The ground plan design of Cologne Cathedral was based closely on that of [[Amiens Cathedral]], as is the style and the width to height proportion of the central nave. The plan is in the shape of a [[Latin Cross]], as is usual with Gothic cathedrals. It has two aisles on either side, which help support one of the very highest Gothic vaults in the world, being nearly as tall as that of the [[Beauvais Cathedral]], much of which was never built or had collapsed. Externally the outward thrust of the vault is taken by [[flying buttress]]es in the French manner. The eastern end has a single [[ambulatory]], the second aisle resolving into a ''[[chevet]]'' of seven radiating chapels.{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}

Internally, the medieval choir is more varied and less mechanical in its details than the 19th-century building. It presents a French style arrangement of very tall [[arcade (architecture)|arcade]], a delicate narrow [[triforium]] gallery lit by windows and with detailed tracery merging with that of the windows above. The [[clerestory]] windows are tall and retain some old figurative glass in the lower sections. The whole is united by the tall shafts that sweep unbroken from the floor to their capitals at the spring of the vault. The vault is of plain quadripartite arrangement.

The choir retains a great many of its original fittings, including the carved stalls, despite French Revolutionary troops having desecrated the building. A large stone statue of [[St Christopher]] looks down towards the place where the earlier entrance to the cathedral was, before its completion in the late 19th century.

The nave has many 19th century stained glass windows. A set of five on the south side, called the ''Bayernfenster'', were a gift from [[Ludwig I of Bavaria]], and strongly represent the painterly German style of the time.

Externally, particularly from a distance, the building is dominated by its huge spires, which are entirely Germanic in character, being openwork like those of [[Ulm Minster|Ulm]], [[St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna|Vienna]], [[Strasbourg cathedral|Strasbourg]] and [[Regensburg Cathedral]]s.<ref>Wim Swaan,{{page needed|date=January 2015}} Banister Fletcher{{page needed|date=January 2015}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px" widths="270px">
File:Cologne cathedral aerial (25326253726) b.jpg|An aerial view shows the cruciform plan.
File:Cologne cathedrale vue sud.jpg|The cathedral from the south
File:Koelner-dom-spire.jpg|The exterior of one of the spires
File:Cathedral main entrance b.jpg|The main entrance shows the 19th century decoration.
</gallery>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="250px" widths="170px">
File:Koelner dom blick nach osten.jpg|The flying buttresses and pinnacles of the Medieval east end
File:Cologne Cathedral interior b.jpg|Interior of the Medieval east end, showing the extreme height
File:Koelner dom neue orgel.jpg|This "swallows' nest" organ was built into the gallery in 1998 to celebrate the cathedral's 750 years.
</gallery>