Xanten Cathedral
The Xanten Cathedral, St.Viktor (Template:Lang-de) is the catholic cathedral of Xanten in the lower Rhine area, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is reckoned the biggest cathedral between Cologne and the sea. In 1937 it was entitled basilica minor by pope Pius XI.
The name of the Cathedral is due to Viktor of Xanten the martyr, a member of the thebaic legion who is supposed having been executed in the 4th century in the apmhitheatre of Castra Vetera. It would nowadays be located near the town Birten, a disctict of Xanten. Similar to the legend of Gereon of Cologne, Viktor of Xanten's legend is also connected to Helena of Constantinople who due to the legend had recovered the bones of Viktor and his legion and erected a chapel in their honours. During a modern excavation the existence of a cella memoriae in the 4th century could be proved. It was not erected for Viktor but for two male buried corpses that were entombed in the crypt later.
The cornerstone of the cathedral was layed in 1263 by Friedrich and Konrad von Hochstaden. The construction of the cathedral lasted 281 years and finally was accomplished with the sanctification of its holy ghost chapel (german:Heiliger-Geist-Kapelle) in the year 1544. Since then the cathedral consists of a five ship nave in gothic style. In contrast to many other cathedrals built in the time period, St.Viktor lacks of an ambulatory. Instead a twin pair of chapels is connected to the chorus similar to the Church of our Lady (german:Liebfrauenkirche) in Trier. St.Viktor embeds with the monasterial library of Xanten one of the most important clerical libraries of the lower Rhine. Today St.Viktor is see of the auxiliary bishop Heinrich Janssen who is responsible for the Lower Rhine part of the diocese Münster.