The story of this place
Begun in 1030 by Emperor Conrad II and consecrated in 1061, Speyer Cathedral is the largest surviving Romanesque church in the world, a colossal red-sandstone basilica meant to embody the power of the Salian emperors. Its crypt is the largest of its kind in Europe and holds the tombs of eight Holy Roman emperors and kings, including Conrad II and Henry IV, whose dramatic penance at Canossa is one of the Middle Ages' great stories. In 1689 French troops under Louis XIV sacked and burned the cathedral, plundering the imperial graves. It was restored and, later, its ground plan influenced Romanesque architecture across Europe. Speyer Cathedral became one of Germany's earliest UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981.