After a short detour, you’ll reach Roncalliplatz and Cologne Cathedral. The construction of the city’s hallmark Gothic cathedral began back in the Middle Ages — in 1248, to be exact. However, it was not completed until 1880. Thus the cathedral was a construction site during the longest period of its existence, and it still requires continuous restoration work today. The famous window created by Gerhard Richter, which consists of brightly coloured squares of stained glass, contrasts with the cathedral’s Gothic architectural style.
The next lap of the cycling route takes you to the former Jesuit College of St. Mariä Himmelfahrt. After the cloister and the church were destroyed in the Second World War, they were completely rebuilt in their mixture of styles: Romanesque, Gothic and early Baroque. The black cube that stands next to it, which was built in 1976 according to plans drawn up by Joachim and Margot Schürmann, presents a sharp contrast.
The route continues northward to the city’s Botanical Garden, also called Flora. The garden landscape was designed by Peter Joseph Lenné in the “mixed German garden style” in 1864. Standing in the centre of this park complex is the garden palace, which is built of cast iron and glass and was designed by Max Nohl. Its architecture in the Historicism style combines elements of French Baroque, the Italian Renaissance and English landscape garden style. It’s a place of repose that invites visitors to relax and enjoy refreshments in the Flora’s garden café, Dank Augusta, before heading past the Cologne Zoo to the Rhine.
From the riverbank you’ll be able to see the Cologne cable car, Germany’s first aerial cableway across a river (bicycles are not permitted aboard). The cable railway was built for the National Garden Show in 1957. Originally intended only for the garden show, it was so popular that it was retained as an amenity for the people of Cologne.
Following the Rhine Promenade southward, you’ll pass several bridges across the Rhine that were built in the 1950s and 1970s. At seven points along the river, they connect the Cologne districts on the left and the right sides of the Rhine. Before your next stop at the Bastion, you’ll find Gruber’s Restaurant, which offers Austrian specialties also as takeaway treats.