Photos here.
In the center of the old part of Freising is a church built in the 12th century and redecorated in the 18th century. The pictures don't really do justice to how beautiful the inside is. The nave is surrounded by a cloister containing graveplates of local clerics (I think that's the word) and more beautiful frescoes.
We were also briefly let into the library, which was full of hand-written manuscripts. I boggled.
Underneath the nave was a crypt containing relics from bishops who lived and worked there in years with three digits. They're still venerated with fresh flowers.
The other thing that fascinated me was that the structure of the building was familiar. The (Lutheran, obviously) Chapel of the Resurrection at Valpo, built in the 1950s, also had a worship area with the crucified Christ under the main altar of the ressurected Christ. And they both had "hidden" side worship areas. I used to know the theological background of this layout... Anyway, in the age of big-box churches that seem to make it up as they go along--and worship in buildings that look like banks--I find the tradition reassuring.
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