Walking tour of medieval Cologne

Dat hellije Coellen" (Holy Cologne) was Germany-s largest city known in the Middle Ages. The citizens of Cologne maintained that it had "as many churches as days in the year-. The relics of the Three Magi and the 11,000 martyred virgins of St. Ursula alone attracted crowds of pilgrims to the city from all over the world. Their self-confidence is still to be seen to this day in the building of the Rathaus (Town Hall) and the Gürzenich, which originally housed Germany-s largest banqueting hall. The trade relations of Cologne-s merchants extended from the Orient to the Occident, and the city developed into one of the major trading centres in the world. Some of the impressive patrician houses are still to be seen, for example, "Saaleck-, "Zum Seil-, "Zum St. Peter-, the "Delfter-Haus" or the "Zur Brezel and zum Dorn" double-house.