I visited Mainz because of a great congress - didn't have much time for photography, but I will certainly go back there another time.

Tags:   Mainz Germany Deutschland Allemagne

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Old man's beard (gemeine Waldrebe)

Tags:   Mainz Germany Deutschland Allemagne Old man's beard gemeine Waldrebe

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"St. Stephan zu Mainz was originally built in 990 at the order of Archbishop Willigis, who also initiated the building of Mainz Cathedral. The church was founded on top of the highest hill in the town, most likely on behalf of Theophanu, the widow of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor. Willigis intended the church to be a site of prayer for the Empire.
The provost of the Collegiate Church administered one of the archdiaconates (a medieval organizational form similar to today's diaconates) of the Archbishopric of Mainz.
The current church building dates from the late medieval era; construction of the main area of the church began in about 1267 and was completed in 1340. The successional building kept the guidelines of the floor plan of the original Willigis building and with it the design as a double quire church. St. Stephan is the oldest Gothic hall church in the Upper Rhine district, and is (besides Mainz Cathedral) the most important church in the city of Mainz.
Only a few changes have been made to the church since the 14th century. The cloister, for instance, was added between 1462 and 1499 to the southern side of the church, and the outer face of the church was updated during the Baroque period. In 1857 a great explosion in a nearby powder magazine (Mainz was a federal fortress in the 19th century) destroyed the baroque facing of the church.
St. Stephan was heavily damaged during World War II. The cloister was heavily damaged and was rebuilt between 1968 and 1971; the restoration of the huge western belfry was also completed at that time, albeit with some difficulty. The arches over the nave and the quire could not be saved and have been replaced by a flat wooden ceiling.
The church features a Gothic hall with a triple nave and quires at both the west and east ends. A large octagonal bell tower rises above the western quire."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Stephen%27s_Church,_Mainz

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Edited

Tags:   Mainz Germany Deutschland Allemagne St. Stephen's Church St. Stephan St. Stephans Kirche Church Kirche

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Edited. Unfortunately, I can't show you any photos from the inside as the church was not yet open. Early bird missed the worm :-)

Tags:   Mainz Germany Deutschland Allemagne St. Stephens' Church St. Stephan St. Stephans Kirche

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