ABSTRACT
A cultural and strategic center during the Carolingian dynasty and Holy Roman Empire, Aachen, known for its hot springs, was the location of first-century Roman baths. By the late fourth or early fifth century, Roman structures had been transformed into a Christian cult site. Aachen's unparalleled renown and complex, changing significance may be tied to Charlemagne, who erected a palace—his favored residence from ca. 792—805. With Charlemagne's death at Aachen in 814, Louis the Pious ruled from the center established by his father. The growing cult gave rise, beginning in the fourteenth century, to the city's prominence as a pilgrimage site, the goal of the Aachenfahrt. The numerous chapels attached to the perimeter of Charlemagne's building—the Matthiaskapelle; the Annakapelle; the Karlskapelle; the Nikolaskapelle; and the vast choir together with additions to the chapel's treasury, bear testimony to the changing yet persistently central importance of Aachen in the Middle Ages.
