200,000 visitors a year cannot be wrong: St. Stephen's is a major attraction. Tourists from all over the world make the pilgrimage to the Stephansberg, to the blue glowing stained glass windows by the artist Marc Chagall. The reconstruction and renovation of the Gothic church, which was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War, also meant its revival.

Over 1,000 years ago, in 990, Willigis, archbishop of Mainz and archchancellor of the Empire, had a collegiate church built to be "the Empire's Place of Prayer.” The constructor of the cathedral was himself laid to rest here in 1011. The construction of the basilica in Ottonian, pre-Romanesque style, on the foundations of which a new structure in Gothic style was erected, begun in 1290, ended in 1338. When a nearby gun powder store blew up in 1857, St. Stephen's was also badly damaged.

The baroque decoration was removed during the reconstruction and incomplete renovation. Today this house of God presents itself as a clearly arranged hall church with three naves in which the Gothic vaults have not as yet been restored. The red sandstone of the supporting construction members provides a charming contrast to the inner walls, which are white-washed. The building's 66-meter-high, spacious tower probably still dates back to Willigis's original structure up to the level of the pointed arch frieze. A wide crack in the steeple was already repaired in 1947, but it was only in 1962 (the city's 2000th anniversary) that the dome and lantern were reconstructed.

Up until 1911, a lookout lived high above the roofs in a specially furnished dwelling - even triplets were once born here. The fire watch was organised in the city in 1559. St. Stephen's is the only German church for which the Jewish artist Marc Chagall (1887 -1985), who was born in Russia, but spent the longest period of his life in France, designed stained glass windows. Blue light shines into the church through these windows. This light brings the angels and other biblical images to life. "These colors address our vital consciousness directly because they express optimism, hope, and the love of life," said Monsignor Klaus Mayer, who through his books and meditations promotes Chagall's work. He contacted Chagall in 1973 and persuaded "the master of color and biblical tidings" to design a symbol of Jewish-Christian unity and peace amongst all peoples in the East Chancel.

In 1978, the first Chagall window by the then 91-year-old artist was fitted. A further eight followed, six of which are located in the east chancel. Chagall, who, although an honorary citizen of Mainz, never actually visited the city, completed his last stained glass window shortly before his death at the age of 97. Seventeen further, deliberately more modest windows in the side aisles by Charles Marq, from the Atelier Jacques Simon in Reims, serve to lead up to the masterpieces. Marq worked together with Chagall for 28 years.

Anyone viewing the famous stained glass windows, should not afterwards miss a walk through the most beautiful late Gothic cloister in Rhineland Palatinate. This was the place of burial of many of the 600 canons, and gravestones recall them and their coats of arms, enriched by modern keystones provided by the state, province, diocese, and the City of Mainz. Also, works of art such as the enthroned God the Father from the 15th century, or the late Gothic sculpture of St. Anne, the Virgin and the Christ Child, should not be overlooked. For the past few years, babies are once again being baptised in the original Gothic baptismal font fram 1330.