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Located directly on the Rhine, Cologne's old town impresses with its unique atmosphere. Visitors can expect a unique mixture of restaurants, shops, breweries and squares, embedded between old houses and small streets, with historical flair.

The Wallraf shows how modern and up-to-date European art from the 13th to the beginning of the 20th century still is today. The museum has one of the most important collections of medieval art in the world. Stefan Lochner's popular "Mother of God in the Rose Bower" is the highlight. Other highlights include Baroque paintings with paintings by Rubens, Rembrandt, Tiepolo, and Boucher, German Romanticism, and 19th-century French painting.

St. Maria in Lyskirchen is the smallest of the twelve large Romanesque basilicas in the old town of Cologne. The Roman Catholic parish church belongs to the Archdiocese of Cologne and is located in the south of the old town. It was created in its current form as a three-aisled gallery basilica based on St. Kunibert between 1198/1200 and 1225. St. Maria in Lyskirchen is particularly characterized by historical vault frescoes from the 13th century, which are the only one of the twelve that have largely survived , and the worship of the Madonna of the Ship

In Cologne, an Italian created one of the most famous perfumes in the world, the Eau de Cologne. The scent reminded him of an Italian spring morning after the rain, wrote the perfumer Johann Maria Farina in 1708. He smelled oranges, lemons, grapefruit and bergamot, cedrat, the flowers and herbs of his homeland. Today, his creation is reminiscent of one city in particular: Cologne. It was the Italian's new Eau de Cologne that made Cologne world-famous as a fragrance city as early as the 18th century. Today, the descendants of Farina in the eighth generation still make the original. The perfume factory is still opposite Cologne City Hall and now houses a fragrance museum.

The Catholic parish church and the former collegiate church of St. Kunibert were consecrated in 1247, making it the youngest of the Romanesque churches in Cologne.

The Catholic parish church and former convent church of St. Mary's in the Capitol in Cologne is considered a unique creation of Rhenish Romanesque. The Marienkirche goes back to an ancient podium temple that was probably built in the middle of the 1st century AD (under the nave of today's church).

The Cologne Cathedral is a cathedral of superlatives, landmark and center of the Rhine metropolis. The cornerstone of the Gothic cathedral was laid on August 15, 1248 for the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The old cathedral was apparently no longer representative enough to house the relics of the Three Kings, which Archbishop Rainald von Dassel had brought to the cathedral city from conquered Milan in 1164. These relics made the cathedral one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Europe. The impressive Gothic architecture, the shrine of the Three Kings, the outstanding stained glass and many other important works of art led to the UNESCO declaring Cologne Cathedral a World Heritage Site in 1996.

It is a promenade, marina, and posh district all in one: the Rheinauhafen in the southern part of Cologne. Global companies settle here in an exclusive location - and chic restaurants and galleries invite you to linger.

St. Pantaleon is an early Romanesque church building in Cologne in the area of the southern old town. It is one of the twelve large Romanesque basilicas in the old town of Cologne, the preservation of which is supported by the Cologne Romanic Churches Association. The church is dedicated to Saint Pantaleon (Latin form of the name), Cosmas and Damian.

The Ulre Gate was built in the early 13th century as part of Cologne's medieval city wall. In front of it the street Sachsenring passes as part of the Cologne rings. At four meters wide, the Ulre Gate was the smallest of the land-side city gates. Since there was no country road on the field side, the gate will probably have had no meaning for traffic.

St. Gereon is a former collegiate church and one of the twelve large Romanesque churches in Cologne and is located on the street "Gereonshof" in the district Altstadt-Nord. The floor plan of the central western part of the church is formed by a decagon (decagon), under which there are still parts of an oval building from the second half of the 4th century.