District Karden

St. Castor Collegiate Church

The »Moseldom« – the most important church on the Moselle between Trier and Koblenz.

St. Castor Collegiate Church
Foto: Lothar Spurzem / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The former collegiate church has shaped the Karden district for more than 800 years. Construction of the choir, apse, the two flanking towers and the transept began in 1183 in the Romanesque style. The nave already shows Gothic forms, and Baroque additions followed later. This combination of Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque makes the church one of the most significant sacred buildings on the Moselle.

The church is named after Saint Castor, who brought Christianity to the lower Moselle in the 4th century. The collegiate foundation of St. Castor governed Karden’s history until it was dissolved in 1802. Today the building is the Catholic parish church.

Furnishings

Among the rich furnishings is the late-Gothic Adoration of the Magi altar, modelled around 1420 from local clay. The three-manual Baroque organ was built by Johann Michael Stumm in 1728.

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