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Cologne (German: Köln (help·info) /kœln/; Kölsch: Kölle) is Germany's fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the largest European metropolitan areas with over 12 million inhabitants. It is one of the oldest cities in Germany, having been founded by the Romans in 50 A.D..
The Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom, official name Hohe Domkirche St. Peter und Maria) is one of the best-known architectural monuments in Germany and has been Cologne's most famous landmark since its completion in the late 19th century. The cathedral is under the administration of the Roman Catholic Church and is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne. From 1880, when its spires were completed, it was the world's tallest structure, losing its title on the completion of the Washington Monument in Washington DC, 1884. Cologne Cathedral remains the second-tallest Gothic structure in the world; only the steeple of the Ulm Münster is higher.
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