Cologne Cathedral ( Kölner Dom, officially Hohe Domkirche St. Peter und Maria)

There are rare moments when you can truly feel your insignificance in this vast ocean of Time and Space. One such moment came where i stood in front of the breathtaking Cathedral of Cologne.

I was on my way to Paderborn from Darmstadt to celebrate Christmas with the family of my good friend Paul and in between there was a 2 hours stop at Köln(Cologne). So my friend suggested that I should check out the famous Cathedral located adjoining the Railway Station. Now the Railway Station entrance is located in such a manner that the moment you come out of there; the first view that hits you is the Köln Cathedral and the first impression is so strong that there is virtually no other option left than to visit it.

Hence the plan was made and we entered the Cathedral. Now I consider myself to be an extremely verbose guy but when faced with over 800 years of history I must confess that I felt laconic. The building of this humungous monument started in 1248 and went on until 1880 and these 600 years of human endevour are clearly visible. The detail in which each inch of this 144.5 meters high Cathedral has been constructed is simply unbelievable and mere words are just not enough to explain it.

However more that the beauty of the architecture, what effected me more was the ancientness of the Cathedral. As I thought about the many generations of men that those stone angels had watched;I could understand their grave expressions. It seemed as if they had nothing left to see or judge about mankind. With the barbarism, cruelty, avarice and violence than we have shown them again and again, it is no wonder that they have no more tears left to show and forced that they are to keep on witnessing more seems like the most harsh punishment. Mere men could never be able to bear this and we should always remember these Angles' sacrifice and try to reform. As I stood there facing those grave Angels and motionless pillars of the cathedral I realized my insignificance and felt humbled.

Such was its massiveness that even after spending 1 and half hours inside the Cathedral, we could still only see a small part of it, but it was definitely an unforgettable experience. As my breath formed a mist inside the Döm, I could smell the ancientness emanating from the very stones of the monument. I could feel the old ages passing by the massive pillars which had withstood so many ages and tried my best to not make a single noise .....what if I disturb them .... what if I tip them over the limit ..... what if I begin the end....