Cologne has been continuously inhabited since 50 AD, and the layers are all still visible: a Roman governor's palace under the town hall, twelve Romanesque basilicas, a cathedral that took 632 years, and cellar walls where the Gestapo held prisoners.
Rome's Colonia in one building: the Dionysus mosaic, the 15m Poblicius tomb monument and Europe's finest ancient glass. While the Roncalliplatz building is renovated, the collection shows at Cäcilienstraße 46. Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00.
Beneath the Rathaus lie the foundations of the Roman governor's palace of Germania Inferior, plus 100m of walkable 1st-century sewer vault. The site is being rebuilt into the MiQua Jewish-Roman museum, so check current access dates.
Built over a 4th-century Roman oval mausoleum, its ten-sided decagon of 1227 is the largest domed structure between Hagia Sophia and Florence. The Roman core walls with their brick banding are still legible inside. Open daily 10:00–18:00.
Raised in 1065 by Plectrudis, wife of Charles Martel's father, on the podium of the Roman Capitoline temple. The trefoil east choir became the template for Rhenish Romanesque, and the carved oak doors of 1065 are among Europe's oldest.
Gestapo headquarters 1935–1945. Ten preserved basement cells carry roughly 1,800 wall inscriptions scratched by prisoners in seven languages — the largest such corpus in Europe. Tue–Fri 10:00–18:00, Sat/Sun 11:00–18:00.
Germany's oldest town hall with a governing body documented from 1135. The Gothic Hansasaal of 1360 hosted the Hanseatic diet; the 1414 tower carries 124 figures of Cologne history, from Agrippina to Konrad Adenauer.
The city's own biography since the Middle Ages: guild charters, the 1396 Verbundbrief that ended patrician rule, Kölnisch Wasser bottles and photographs of the 1945 ruins. Reopened in its new Minoritenstraße home in 2023.
Opened 1911, blown up by German engineers on 6 March 1945, rebuilt by 1948. The four Hohenzollern emperors on horseback survived at the bridgeheads — Wilhelm II still rides at the Deutz end above the rebuilt arches.
A leper colony from the 12th century and an execution ground until 1796, converted to a cemetery in 1810. Graves of the Farina perfume dynasty and the Millowitsch theatre family line the Millionenallee of neo-Gothic mausolea.
Johann Maria Farina invented Eau de Cologne here in 1709, making this the world's oldest operating fragrance factory. Guided tours pass the 18th-century distillation cellar and the ledger of customers from Napoleon to Queen Victoria.
One of three surviving gates of the 1180 medieval wall, which enclosed 400 hectares and made Cologne the largest walled city north of the Alps. The Severin quarter around it kept its working-class dialect and carnival clubs.
Brewing on site since 1883 and still fermenting Kölsch in open wooden vats in the back courtyard. The Köbes pours 0.2l Stangen until you put your coaster on the glass — the coaster tally system predates the cash register.