onal church similar to that of Charlemagne at
Aix-la-Chapelle. Even more than the latter it has been altered, rebuilt,
and added to, but the original outline is still readily traced in spite
of the fact that its foundations may have come down from the fifth
century. It is more difficult, however, to follow its evolution in
detail than it is in the case of Charlemagne's shrine at
Aix-la-Chapelle.

The style is distinctly Rhenish, though not alone in Germany do such
round churches exist; one recalls the Templars' Church in London and the
famous example at Ravenna in Italy.

The great decagon of St. Gereon's is covered with a domed roof, also
divided into ten sections by groins or ribs, which rise gracefully from
the slender shafts at the angles, meeting at the apex in a boss.

The ancient collegiate buildings which formerly surrounded St. Gereon's
have disappeared, but there is yet an extensive structure of a more
modern date which enfolds the central pile. The easterly apse is low and
rectangular, while the facade of the west is flanked by two Romanesque
unspired towers.

St. Gereon's is one of the most curiously constructed churches of the
middle ages. It was founded by the Empress Helene in honour of the
Theban martyrs, who, to the number of three hundred and ninety-five,
died for their faith, with their captains, Gereon and Gregory, toward
the end of the third century, in the reign of the Emperor Diocletian.

One enters by a rectangular porch, where are disposed some fragments of
Roman remains. The rotunda, or decagon, so reminiscent of
Aix-la-Chapelle, dates from a period contemporary therewith, so far as
its lower walls are concerned, but the upper portions are of the twelfth
century, at least.

Below the arches are the chapels which surround the decagon in
symmetrical fashion. Above is the organ and the adjoining choir
walls. In the latter are walled up innumerable skulls of the companions
of St. Gereon, and in each of the chapels is a great sarcophagus, also
containing the bones of the martyrs. Altogether the thought which arises
is not a pleasant one, no matter how worthy the object of preserving
such a vast quantity of human remains.

[Illustration: ST. GEREON'S, _COLOGNE_]

The high altar is quite isolated, and the pavement of the choir itself,
which is aisleless, rises behind it to a height of a dozen or more
steps,--a frequent occurrence in the Rhine churches.

The apse has an insertion of Gothic w