Basilica of St Severin, Cologne

Basilica of St Severin, Cologne tickets: which one to buy

Entry is free with a donation box. Nothing inside is ticketed. Guided visits of the crypt and the excavations are arranged by the parish and by the Romanesque churches association, usually at weekends and for a small fee; the excavations are the interesting part and are otherwise closed. The church is in the Suedstadt, about fifteen minutes on foot south of the old town or two stops on the underground, in a residential quarter with good bars and no tourists at all.

Walking tours of the twelve Romanesque churches include it and cost a moderate amount. Nothing needs booking. Concerts are held through the year and the church has an active music programme. The Romanesque churches association publishes a walking guide covering all twelve, sold in each church for a few euros.

Visiting Basilica of St Severin, Cologne: what to see

A memorial chapel stood here in the late fourth century over a Roman cemetery outside the city walls, and excavations beneath the church have traced its growth through six building phases; the oldest standing parts date from the tenth century and the rest is eleventh to fifteenth. Severin was a fourth-century bishop of Cologne, and his shrine is behind the high altar. The interior is Romanesque with Gothic additions, restored after severe war damage; the choir stalls of the 1530s survived.

What makes the church unusual is the archaeology below: a complete late-Roman and Frankish burial sequence, including a child's grave with glass and a bishop's tomb, which turned the site into one of the most important excavations of early Christian Cologne. The shrine of St Severin behind the altar is a gilded reliquary of the twentieth century replacing one lost in the war, and the choir stalls of the 1530s are carved with animals and grotesques. Wall paintings of the fifteenth century survive in the south aisle, and a Romanesque crucifix hangs above the crossing.

Basilica of St Severin, Cologne opening hours and the best time to go

Open daily outside services, generally from morning to early evening with a break in the middle of the day. Sunday mass is sung and the church has one of the better choirs in the city. The Suedstadt is quiet by day and busy in the evening. The interior is dim and the stained glass is post-war. Cologne's Carnival in February involves this quarter heavily. Dress is informal. Photography without flash is allowed.

Allow twenty minutes, an hour if a crypt tour is running. The other Romanesque churches, St Maria im Kapitol and St Georg among them, are within twenty minutes on foot and make a good half day. The Severinstorburg, the medieval gate at the end of the street, is one of Cologne's three surviving city gates and holds a small museum. The church is a short walk from the Chlodwigplatz underground stop, which is on the same line as the cathedral.