The nave of Speyer Cathedral, Germany

This nearly perfect red sandstone Romanesque nave at Speyer dates from 1024 when ti was commissioned by the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II.

In 1090 Conrad's grandson Henry IV embarked on a reconstruction to enlarge the Cathedral.

Although appearing perfect Romanesque actually the Cathedral was sacked first in the Nine Years War by the French in 1689 and again in the Revolutionary War in 1792. After the first sacking only the east of the Cathedral was used. In 1698 the imperial graves - the last resting place of the emperors buried in the Cathedral were disturbed.

So the purity and unity of what we see today is the result of successive reconstructions.