Kaiserdom, Speyer

Backblip

The ship left Rudesheim at 4 am and we meandered down river at a leisurely pace, passing some serious vineyards en route. This area is home not only to Asbach brandy, but also to the Riesling variety of wine, which is often served with dinner on the ship.

The weather is getting ever hotter as we go further south and today it reaches 39 degrees Centigrade just in time for us to arrive in Speyer, a town with a fascinating history. So it was on with the sunhats and Factor 50 for our walk around the town centre and the visit to the huge Kaiserdom or Basilica of Speyer gave blessed relief from the hot sun:-)

The leaflets say it's one of the finest Romanesque buildings in existence anywhere in the world and it was certainly huge and very impressive, especially outside. Inside was rather restrained for a Roman Catholic cathedral, although the beautiful pastel coloured sandstone pillars and cool marble floors spoke volumes about the wealth lavished on its building.

The other Speyer church of note is the neo-Gothic Gadachtniskirche (Memorial Church of the Protestation) built at the end of the 19th century. It commemorates Martin Luther and his followers after he was excommunicated at Worms in 1529. They continued to protest at his fate and from then on were known as Protestants.

In the Middle Ages Speyer was also home to a very large Jewish community who had been given protection from persecution by a local bishop. They built synagogues for both men and women and also a mikvah or ritual bath, which still exists today and has been restored to its near original state. It is fed by an underground spring and it was blissfully cool when going down ten metres below ground level to visit it.

We would have liked to explore more, but the fierce heat drove us back to the air-conditioned coolness of the ship and another delicious dinner:-)