Palatine Chapel in Aachen

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Charlemagne's chapel in Aachen.

Aisle in chapel

The Palatine Chapel in Aachen is the chapel of Charlemagne's winter palace, now part of Aachen Cathedral. It is Aachen's major landmark, the central monument of the Carolingian Renaissance, and the reason the French call the city Aix-la-Chapelle. The chapel holds the remains of Charlemagne and was the site of coronations for 600 years.

The Chapel was designed by Odo of Metz, and was probably built by Lombard masons using stone salvaged from nearby Roman structures. There is a sixteen-sided aisle with a gallery overhead encircling its central octagonal dome. The architecture is inspired by the 6th century church of San Vitale in Ravenna. Charlemagne had visited both Rome, where he was crowned king by the Pope Leo III, and Ravenna, and was greatly inspired by the architecture he encountered in Italy.

The construction, including barrel and groin vaults and an octagonal cloister-vault in the dome, reflects late Roman practices rather than the Byzantine techniques employed at San Vitale, and its plan simplifies the complex geometry of the Ravenna building. Multi-coloured marble veneer is used to create a sumptuous interior.

The main entrance is dominated by westwork, that is, the western facade including the entrance vestibule, rooms at one or more levels above, and one or more towers. The addition of a westwork to churches is one of the Carolingian contributions to the Western architectural traditions.

Early Christian churches feature freestanding belfries (if they have towers at all), but during the Carolingian period, towers were often incorporated as integral components of the church. The dome is made out of concrete, which is denser, thicker, and heavier, than the dome at Ravenna.