It was Henry the Lion who laid the foundations to the cathedral on the southern edge of the Old Town at the Mühlenteich. After the city had become a bishop's see in 1160, construction on the mighty Gothic brickwork began in 1173. The three-naved hall church is one of the oldest monuments in Lübeck. A wooden church previously stood in the same spot.The cathedral completely burned down and the vaults collapsed during the air raids on Lübeck in 1942. Restoration efforts didn't get underway until 1960 after St. Mary's had been rebuilt. It was newly consecrated in 1973. The crowning glory of the restoration efforts came with the restoration of the Paradise in 1982.Lübeck Cathedral houses numerous works of art such as the 17 metre high Triumphal Cross by Bernt Notke (1477), the pulpit and the imposing Lettner clock. All that remains of the former monastery is the cloister in the south transept (to the cathedral museum).