page_title: St. Lubentius, Dietkirchen
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: St. Lubentius, Dietkirchen / History
context_page_description: The church of St Lubentius in Dietkirchen, now part of Limburg an der Lahn, Hesse, Germany, was the most important church of the region until the 13th century. Located on top of a rock outcrop on the west bank of the river Lahn, it holds relics of St Lubentius, who according to the Gesta Treverorum worked in the area as a missionary in the fourth century. Today, the former collegiate church serves as the Catholic parish church of Dietkirchen, while its former chapel Dreifaltigkeitskapelle is the Protestant parish church. The church is a Romanesque basilica, mostly built in the 11th and 12th centuries, with a double tower at the west end.
context_section_description: According to the Gesta Treverorum, the priest Lubentius founded the first church on the site during a missionary tour from Trier in the fourth century. Excavations show that a stone church was present on the site around 700. A collegiate church dedicated to St Lubentius is documented in 841. Carolingian and Ottonian structures are no longer visible. The remains of the saint were probably moved from Kobern, where he had died, to Dietkirchen.
  The nave of the present church was built as a Romanesque basilica in the second half of the 11th century. The northern apse dates from around 1100. The two western steeples were later added. The church was changed to a basilica with balconies during the second half of the 12th century. It was completed between 1225 and 1250, and is the mother church (Mutterkirche) of all churches in the middle of the Lahn valley. The church is approximately 39 metres (128 ft) long and 16.5 metres (54 ft) wide.
  The monastery was dissolved in 1801. The church was restored in 1855–56, and again in 1955. In the 1970s, the interior was adjusted to the concepts of the Second Vatican Council including redesign of the altar.
  Among the other buildings clustered in the plateau atop the rock outcrop is the free standing while Dreifaltigkeitskapelle (Trinity chapel) which is used for monthly services of the local Protestant parish.
caption: Floorplan
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