Under A Cornfield, Ruins Of A 1,000-Year-Old Church Were Discovered

A 1,000-year-old church constructed by Otto the Great, the Holy Roman Emperor who considerably expanded the Catholic Church's authority in Europe, has been discovered under a cornfield in Germany.

The foundation walls of the church, which were discovered early last month, have now been totally revealed. The cathedral was founded by Otto I, also known as Otto the Great, who reigned as King of Germany from 936 to 973 and then as Holy Roman Emperor from 962 to 973.

At the rediscovered Royal Palace of Helfta near Eisleben in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, archaeologists unearthed the foundation walls of the huge church. The town is well-known for being the birthplace of Martin Luther.

There is evidence of two stays at the site by Otto I and his son, Otto II 'the Red,' with the earlier witnessing the church's opening, as per the team examining the site.

The team said that this is a majestic, enormous chapel that demonstrates the importance of this place during the Ottoman era.

The project manager Felix Biermann remarked that Otto had successfully constructed a structure that resembles a little cathedral with a length of 98 feet and a breadth of roughly 66 feet.

Saint Radegund, the Thuringian princess as well as a Frankish queen who erected the Abbey of the Holy Cross at Poitiers, is thought to have been the patron saint of the church. She is also the patron saint of various French and English parishes, as well as Jesus College in Cambridge.

During the Reformation, when the Catholic Church was split into Protestantism and what is now the Roman Catholic Church, the church, which had existed for roughly 500 years, was demolished. A collection of coins and a tiled stove from the 14th and 15th centuries, as well as a remnant of a bell, were discovered on the site in contrast to the foundation walls. A cemetery with 70 graves, as well as seven stone tombs dating from the 10th to the 15th centuries, were also discovered.

Biermann added that in addition, bronze belt fittings and buckles, coins, knives, and other utensils were discovered. They found a lot of disc brooches from the Ottoman period that were made of brass, enameled, and had glass inlays in a rectangular and circular shape.

After being recovered in 2009 by geomagnetic prospecting, the long-lost remains of the royal palace on the Kleine Klaus became the starting point for the latest discoveries, with the exploration gradually moving outward. In contrast to the church, the Palatinate included residential and commercial structures with pit dwellings, as well as majestic residential buildings and, most likely, a meeting hall. The latest excavations, according to Biermann, will go through September.