St. Maria im Kapitol (St. Mary's in the Capitol), Cologne

St. Maria im Kapitol (english: St. Mary's in the Capitol) is a magnificent 11th-century Romanesque church located in the Kapitol-Viertel. Its name “im Kapitol” refers to the Roman temple for the Capitoline Triad that was built on today’s site of the church in the first century. The church was dedicated to St. Mary and built between 1040 and 1065, based on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

The church is one of twelve Romanesque churches built in Cologne during this period, and it is considered the most important work of German church architecture of the Salian dynasty. St. Mary's in the Capitol is the largest of the Romanesque churches in Cologne. It has a nave and aisles and three towers to the west. The east end of the church is trefoil in shape, with three apses.

St. Mary's in the Capitol's foundation was built on the walls of the Roman temple, which measured 33 m x 29.5 m and was surrounded by a 97 m x 69 m courtyard. Inside of the temple, three cellae – one for each of the worshipped gods – were built. After the Franks conquered Cologne in the fifth century, the Frankish mayors of the palace resided around the Capitoline hill, and Pepin of Herstal lived in Cologne for a period of time. His wife Plectrude had a proprietary church built on the ruins of the capitol before her death, and she was buried in this aisleless church.

In the middle of the eleventh century, the archbishop of Cologne Hermann II and his sister Ida, abbess of St. Maria im Kapitol, initiated construction of a new church. The altar and the nave were consecrated by Pope Leo IX. During World War II, the church was heavily damaged, and until 1956, only the closed-off western part of the church could be used. In 1984, the eastern part was reopened and could also be used.