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| | CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Aachen |
 | | The precious relics obtained by Charlemagne and Otho III for the imperial chapel were the objects of great pilgrimages in the Middle Ages (the so-called "Shrine Pilgrimages") which drew countless swarms of pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Hungary, England, Sweden, and other countries. |
 | | The minster ranks first among the church buildings; it consists of three distinct parts: the octagon, the choir, and the crown, or ring, of chapels, the octagon forming the central portion. |
 | | This last is the most important monument of Carolingian architecture, it was built between 796 and 804, in the reign of Charlemagne, by Master Odo of Metz, and modelled after the Italian circular church of San Vitale at Ravenna. |
| www.newadvent.org /cathen/01001a.htm (1496 words) |
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