A tourist boat on the Spree river alongside The Nikolaiviertel or St. Nicholas Quarter on a sunny day. Nicholas quarter with the berliner dom or cathedral in the background on a sunny day. The area contained some of the oldest building. The area got its name from the parish church in its centre, dating back to the 13th century. This district is just about the only part of Berlin that has a medieval look to it, with small gabled houses and narrow alleyways. Once the home of artists and writers, the Nicolaiviertel is nowadays filled with tourists visiting the souvenir shops and popular restaurants. Crossing the River Spree, across a view of Nicolaiviertel (Henry: this is pronounced Neeckolayfeertel). In the background, the television tower, a bit like the CN tower. Much of the area was destroyed during the war and the GDR, i.e. communist East Germany only got to its reconstruction between 1979 and 1987. The idea of recreating a medieval village created a lot of controversy. In fact, with only a few exceptions, the 'medieval' houses in the district are newly built replicas of historic buildings. And even some of the authentic ones had to be restored and were moved here from various other locations. Nevertheless, the area is charming and we had a very pleasant walk there. once we crossed the river, we had a look at the outside of the Ephraim Palace, once called the most beautiful corner of Berlin. It is a very ornate, Baroque palace built in 1766 for Nathan Ephraim, Frederick the Great's mint master and court jeweler. In 1935, the palace was demolished, when the bridge next to it was being widened, but most of the façade was saved and stored and in 1983 the building was restored. Today, the palace houses various temporary exhibitions. As for us, we decided to just have. Look at its exterior and walk on along the river.