Charlemagne is lucky. He is buried in the Aachen Cathedral and didn’t have the hassle of finding a place to park. Aachen sits in western Germany on the Dutch/Belgian/German border. Interminable holiday traffic and “Besetzen!” parking lots aside, the Aachen Cathedral was great.
Charlemagne may have scored the last parking spot
Much of the cathedral is being cleaned and renovated for the once-every-seven-years pilgrmage, scheduled for Spring 2014. Aachen ranks right up there with Rome, Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostelo as Christian pilgrimage sites, supposedly housing part of Mary’s robe, Jesus’ swaddling clothes and the decapitation cloth of John the Baptist. Whatever!
All of which made Aachen Cathedral the most distinguished sanctuary of Charlemagne’s realm and which it was selected as his final resting place. Between 936 and 1531 thirty kings and twelve queens were anointed, crowned and enthroned on Charlemagne’s throne.
