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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



COLOGNE CATHEDRAL 



Founded in 1248, this shrine was not completed until 1880. Its immensity, beauty of 

 proportion, and wealth of decoration are celebrated. "Rows of massive flying buttresses, 

 piers, pinnacles, spires, needles, crockets, towers, mullioned windows, portals, niches filled 

 with figures, carvings, and grotesque gargoyles" produce an astonishing effect. Its twin 

 spires soar to a height of 512 feet. 



