Basilica of St. Severin

The origins of St. Severin date back to the 4th century, when a small rectangular hall building with an apse, serving as a cella memoriae, was erected on this site. In the 5th and 6th centuries, the structure was expanded with side rooms and an eastern narthex. A significant westward expansion occurred before 866, possibly in connection with the transfer of Saint Severin's relics to the Carolingian crypt. Pope Leo III visited the saint's tomb as early as 799. During the Salian period, a new nave with two side choirs was constructed, and the hall crypt was consecrated in 1043. The eastern part of the basilica was completed in the early 13th century, while work on the southern part concluded around 1300. The Romanesque west tower was replaced in 1393 by a late Gothic successor, whose facade was only completed in the mid-16th century. The nave underwent renewal in the late Gothic style from the late 14th to the 16th century, with the central nave receiving its net vault around 1500. In 1953, Pope Pius XII elevated the church to the rank of a Basilica minor.

St. Severin is located in Cologne, a major city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Today's Severinstraße, named after the church, was already in Roman times the southern arterial road to Bonn and lined with burial sites.

The church of St. Severin currently serves as a Catholic parish church. In 1999, the relics of Saint Severin were scientifically examined, revealing that they were contained in an oak wooden box along with textiles dating from around 400 AD. These textiles, as well as the Severinus disc, have been exhibited in a sacristy in the church's south crypt since 2005. A bishop's staff of chased silver, revered as the “Severinus staff,” and a Cornelius horn containing relics of the saint are preserved in 14th-century shrines.

• Fort I (Cologne) (fortress, approx. 879 m away)
• Fort IV (Cologne) (fortress, approx. 1134 m away)
• Fort V (Cologne) (fortress, approx. 1698 m away)
• Cologne Cathedral (sacred building, approx. 1984 m away)