Inside the Church of Saint Foilan in Aachen

I was disappointed to know that Aachen Cathedral opens at eleven. I was there two hours early so I had time to spare. I’m surprised to know that such a major landmark would be only open that late in the day. Fortunately, there are other places to see around the city center of Aachen and I just happened to find another church which is just behind the cathedral. I thought it was a strange decision to build a church right beside a full blown cathedral but perhaps there were reasons for it. For one thing, the original cathedral was meant to be a chapel for Charlemagne. The current cathedral was a product of centuries of additional structures.

The Church of Saint Foilan is a small church behind the cathedral. The name of the saint the church is dedicated to is a bit strange for starters since Saint Foilan is an Irish saint. This seems to imply that the church was established me missionaries from Ireland or possibly Britain. I was attracted to this church because of the steeple which unfortunately, was difficult to photograph as I couldn’t find any angle which it would be visible with the church. The church is surrounded by establishments which made it difficult to photograph by itself. The inside of the church isn’t remarkable. It has stained glass windows and it felt a lot like a chapel. I understand that the church also suffered damaged from the war and had to be rebuilt. I can’t tell how much of this church is still original.

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