Seven radiating chapels surround the choir of Cologne Cathedral.
These chapels form the cathedral’s eastern chevet, the semicircular or polygonal termination beyond the choir. They open from the ambulatory, allowing worshippers to circulate around the high altar while visiting separate altars and devotional spaces. The arrangement follows French Gothic planning, especially the influence of major cathedrals such as Amiens.
Cologne’s choir was begun in 1248 and consecrated in 1322, long before the cathedral was finally completed in the nineteenth century. Its eastern end preserves the proportions and delicate vertical character of the medieval design, even though much of the exterior was finished centuries later.
The number can be confused with the cathedral’s aisles, towers, or other subsidiary chapels. The question refers specifically to the radiating chapels of the choir’s chevet: there are seven.