In which building was Charlemagne buried?

Charlemagne was buried in Aachen Cathedral. At the time of his death in 814, the building was the Palatine Chapel of his palace at Aachen; it later became the central core of the cathedral that stands there today.

Charlemagne made Aachen one of the principal centers of his rule and built the chapel as a monumental royal church. Construction began in the late eighth century, and Pope Leo III consecrated it in 805. Its octagonal design and dome were strongly influenced by the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna.

The exact original location of Charlemagne’s grave is uncertain. His remains were later examined and moved on several occasions, including a reinterment ordered by Emperor Frederick II in 1215. They are now associated with the Karlsschrein, or Shrine of Charlemagne, in the cathedral.

The building is also famous as a coronation church: thirty-one German kings were crowned there between 936 and 1531. The common mix-up is to name the Palatine Chapel as a different location, but that chapel is the historic building incorporated into Aachen Cathedral.