ST. GÉRÊON'S, COLOGNE
St. Gérêon's is one of the most curiously constructed churches of the middle ages. It was founded by the Empress Hélène in honour of the Théban martyrs, who, to the number of three hundred and ninety-five, died for their faith, with their captains, Gérêon and Gregory, toward the end of the third century, in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian.
One enters by a rectangular porch, where are disposed some fragments of Roman remains. The rotunda, or decagon, so reminiscent of Aix-la-Chapelle, dates from a period contemporary therewith, so far as its lower walls are concerned, but the upper portions are of the twelfth century, at least.
Below the arches are the chapels which surround the decagon in symmetrical fashion. Above is the organ and the adjoining choir[{273}] walls. In the latter are walled up innumerable skulls of the companions of St. Gérêon, and in each of the chapels is a great sarcophagus, also containing the bones of the martyrs. Altogether the thought which arises is not a pleasant one, no matter how worthy the object of preserving such a vast quantity of human remains.
The high altar is quite isolated, and the pavement of the choir itself, which is aisleless, rises behind it to a height of a dozen or more steps,—a frequent occurrence in the Rhine churches.
The apse has an insertion of Gothic windows, but the eleventh-century Romanesque features are still prominent.
In the choir are a series of flamboyant Gothic stalls, above which are monumental tablets let into the wall.
At the entrance of the choir are two colossal statues of the martyred saints, then seven others, behind which, at the base of the apside, is another altar.
The tapestries which surround the choir are of the "haut-lisse" weaving, and represent the life history of Joseph.