Located directly on the Rhine, stands the old town of Cologne with its unique atmosphere. Visitors will find a unique blend of inns, shops, breweries and places, which offer a historical flair nestled in old houses and narrow streets.
The area around the former Benedictine Abbey of St. Martin, the Old Market Square and the Haymarket has always been a very lively area, where living, working, acting, entertainment, culture, religion and tourism mixed. The Romans were here first, a bathhouse and later built a harbor. The stack houses (based on the stack right, received the Cologne 1259) and the naming of the small streets (Butter Market) a reminder of the active life in the Middle Ages that brought the city of Cologne wealth and prestige.
In the old town is mainly a mixed offer to find at long-established stores: men's and women's outerwear, shoes, jewelery, shops for residential interiors, musical instruments, antiques, wood carvings, fishing, tea, wine; but also a lot of breweries and restaurants have settled here. The proximity of the Rhine gives the whole a relaxed holiday atmosphere. So spend some time shopping here can easily connect with a walk. Particularly popular at Christmas and Carnival.
During World War II a large part of Cologne's Old Town was destroyed and then spent years working again. Today only a fraction of the original buildings has been preserved, but this does not detract from its charm. Especially popular are next to the Rhine promenade and the adjacent stack also houses the Haymarket and the Alter Markt, the constitute a central point for Cologne and tourists especially in the Carnival and Christmas time.
Is on the Alter Markt is incidentally also the Jan-von-Werth Fountain, built in 1884. A few hundred meters further on the Haymarket flaunts the striking equestrian statue of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. It is the last work of the sculptor Gustav Blaeser, which was inaugurated in 1878.
To discover a lot of culture
Culture lovers also come in Cologne's Old Town in a handful of museums at their expense: Very near to the Cologne Cathedral you will find the Museum Ludwig and the Roman-Germanic Museum. A few streets away is the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum with art from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. Additional amenities at the Rhine popular not only with children chocolate museum and right next to the Sports and Olympic Museum. Worth a visit are the Farina House, the Fragrance Museum, the history of cologne kannn be experienced, and the Mustard Museum and a historic mustard mill in the year 1810th.
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