John Reps Bastides Collection

Cologne

Among the many bastides bearing names of important Italian and Spanish towns (Pavie, Bologna, Barcelonne, Grenade, Bruges, etc.) Cologne stands out as one of the few--perhaps the only--to be named after a German city. This replaced the name "Sabolène," one apparently agreed on by its founders, Eustache de Beaumarchais, senechal of Philippe III, and a local lord and landowner, Otton de Terride. Following the usual ceremony to launch the town in 1284, residents began to build their houses, and three years later received their charter of rights and privileges. More