SW BI-090, DE-4121642 & DE-41222215 St. Martin's Cathedral , Mainz

Mainz Cathedral or St. Martin's Cathedral (Mainzer Dom) is located near the historical centre and pedestrianized market square of the city of Mainz.. This 1000 year-old Roman Catholic cathedral is the site of the episcopal see of the Bishop of Mainz.

Mainz Cathedral is predominantly Romanesque in style, but later exterior additions over many centuries have resulted in the appearance of various architectural influences seen today. It comprises three naves and stands under the patronage of Saint Martin of Tours. The eastern quire is dedicated to Saint Stephen.

The interior of the cathedral houses tombs and funerary monuments of former powerful Electoral-prince-archbishops, or Kurfürst-Erzbischöfe, of the diocese and contains religious works of art spanning a millennium. The cathedral also has a central courtyard and statues of Saint Boniface and The Madonna on its grounds.

Mainz Cathedral has a very long history.  In World War II, Mainz was a target of Allied bombing multiple times. The cathedral was hit several times in August 1942. Most of the roofs burned, and the top level of the cloister was destroyed. The vault, however, withstood the attacks and remained intact.     The damaged elements were restored as authentically as possible, a process which continued well into the 1970s. In addition, much of the glass in the cathedral was replaced.

The outside of the cathedral was coloured red to match the historical buildings of Mainz. In addition, extensive cleaning and restoration efforts were undertaken, ending in 1975. In that year, the thousandth year since the beginning of the cathedral's construction was celebrated.

These three Mainz Cathedral postcards came from (1) magali (14 May 2014) Swap-bot and (2) Wilhelm (24 April 2015) Postcrossing and (3) Henk (24 April 2015) Postcrossing.