The German city home to a massive Gothic cathedral with two spires is Cologne.
Cologne Cathedral, or Kölner Dom, dominates the city beside the Rhine. Its twin towers rise above a vast Gothic façade, making the building one of Europe’s most recognizable church landmarks. Construction began in 1248, following a French Gothic design influenced especially by Amiens Cathedral, but the medieval project was halted around 1560.
The cathedral was finally completed according to its original medieval plan in 1880, after renewed construction began in the 19th century. Its purpose included housing the shrine of the Three Kings, relics that had made Cologne an important pilgrimage destination. The building’s soaring nave, pointed arches, rib vaults, flying buttresses, and extensive stained glass express the vertical ambition of Gothic architecture.
The two spires are sometimes mistaken for a feature of a different German landmark, Ulm Minster, which has the world’s tallest church steeple but only one principal spire. Cologne Cathedral is distinguished by its monumental twin-spired silhouette.