Joao Cesar E.
Google
The Doppelkirche (Double Church) of St. Mary and St. Clement is a Romanesque church in Schwarzrheindorf, an eastern suburb of Bonn.
Church from the 12th century. It is a double church, two floors, the upper one dedicated to Mary (Madonna) and the lower one to Pope Clement.
Completed in 1151, the church has two levels and medieval wall paintings of saints and apocalyptic scenes.
The Double Church of Schwarzrheindorf has an attractive exterior plastered in white and decorated with pink and yellow paint. The paint job dates from a restoration of 1973 and provides a good sense of what many now-bare churches looked like in medieval times.
Inside, it has two levels: a lower church for the local community and an upper church for the lords of the castle and later the nuns. The two share the same plan: an apse with altar in the east end; small north and south transepts or apses; and a straight extension to the west for seating and entry. Over the transept crossing is a stout central tower topped with a spire.
The Doppelkirche's round, monumental design is inspired by Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel at Aachen Cathedral, since the Emperor was provided with a throne here as well. It was also based on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, as it was intended as the burial place for Archbishop von Weid.