EBN- Cologne cathedral, Europe’s biggest collection of pop art and vintage shops are all less than four and a half hours from London by train.
Cologne, Germany’s fourth-largest city, is less than four and a half hours from London by Eurostar and connecting Ice train, a fact that takes many by surprise. Berlin is a further four hours away, but in attitude is a million miles from Cologne with its ultra laid-back reputation.
The city’s medieval Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) was the world’s tallest building 1880–1890 and is today the third-tallest church and tallest cathedral in the world. It houses the Shrine of the Three Kings. It is a one of the most visited sights and pilgrimage destinations in Europe. The cityscape is further shaped by the Twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne. The city is famous for Eau de Cologne, which has been produced in the city since 1709; “cologne” has since become a generic term.
From Colonia Agrippina to Cologne
The city was founded and established in Germanic Ubii territory in the 1st century CE as the Roman Colonia Agrippina, hence its name. Agrippina was later dropped (except in Latin), and Colonia became the name of the city in its own right, which developed into modern German as Köln.
Cologne, the French version of the city’s name, has become standard in English as well. It functioned as the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and as the headquarters of the Roman military in the region until occupied by the Franks in 462.
During the Middle Ages the city flourished as being located on one of the most important major trade routes between east and western Europe (including the Brabant Road, Via Regia and Publica). It was a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire and one of the major members of the trade union Hanseatic League. It was one of the largest European cities in medieval and renaissance times.
