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high remain unfinished & the one on the north side is not above
21 ft above the ground, while the other has reached only the half of

chapels have been finished. Groups of columns of immense
height seen to shoot up into the sky, like the lofty
trees of some ancient Forest, & at their highest point they are
surmounted by a crown of branches, which form, with the
neighbouring groupes a vaulted roof, ending in a point, as it
were, to which it is difficult to strain one's sight. The Columns
in the nave of the Church abut upon a [?diety] composed
of simple planks of wood. At this moment this boarded
covering is under repair, the dry-rot having damaged the timber.
In the Choir we found a beautiful black marble altar, with
two modern statues of the Virgin & St. Peter. In the middle
was a tabernacle, decorated with 7 Columns, the idea of wh:
is taken from the 9: ch: [?out] of the Proverb of Solomon " - Wisdom has
built a house, & has employed seven pillars &c." - These Columns.
of white marble, are fluted, & adorned with capitals, cornices,[?]
& tiles of Gold. The whole of thier whimisical structure is in
wretched taste with the ancient Gothic, that surrounds
it. The original grand altar, 60 ft high, of dark marble, with
its tasteful ornaments & magnificient Candelabra, was destroyed
in 1769 by the advice of some ignorant members of the
great Chapter. The walls of the Choir are lined with tapestry,
of wh: the designs were furnished by Rubens & executed
by him on several large pictures. The 12 stone statues of the
apostles, on the side of the Columns, are in good style. The
painted windows are very worthy of attention. On the glass are
represented, [?ing] a great crowd of finely executed figures,
the arms of many of the ancient patrician nobles of
the town. Behind the great Altar was one in the Ionic style,
of marble, containing the relie[?f] of the Magi or three Kings.
It was built by the Elector Maxmilian Joseph of Bavaria. After
the capture, & entire destruction of Milan, Frederic 1st., of the
house of Hohenstaufen, presented to Reinold, Archbishop
of Cologne, who had accompanied him in the campaign, the
bones & skulls of the three Magi, & by the Archbishop they were
deposited in that Chapel about 1170. The ancient tombs of the
3. Kings, as well as those of the Martyrs, Nabor, & Gregory of
Spolette, were plundered of their treasures during the Meno[h?]
revolution. Many have since been recovered & replaced,