Parkin (cake) in November had many Christian festivals, and like Celtic festivals that preceded them they were celebrated with a fire and ritual cakes. November starts with All Hallows Eve, that runs into All Saints Day (1 November), which is followed by All Souls Day (2 November). Little Lent and the forty-day fast until Christmas, started at Martinmas. (11 November). On All Souls Day soul cakes were baked. The Martinmas fair was important being the traditional day when cattle were bought and sold, and servants were hired for the following year. It was also the date that cattle were slaughtered and salted
Great St. Martin Church, Cologne Great St. Martin Church, Cologne The Great Saint Martin Church (, or , ) is a Romanesque Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. Its foundations (circa 960 AD) rest on remnants of a Roman chapel, built on what was then an island in the Rhine. The church was later transformed into a Benedictine monastery. The current buildings, including a soaring crossing tower that is a landmark of Cologne's Old Town, were erected between 1150-1250. The architecture of its eastern end forms a triconch or trefoil plan, consisting of three apses around the crossing, similar to that at St. Maria im Kapitol.