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| Porta Nigra |
Colin and I just got back from a fabulous weekend in Trier. Recommended by my grandfather and other friends as a great destination in Germany, we'd been meaning to get to the city, but hadn't had time until this weekend.
On Friday, Colin got out of work a bit early (thanks, NATO!) and we packed our travel uniforms and Lola and hopped in Trusty for another adventure. As a side note, we apologize for wearing the same thing in every photo. :) We are so limited in this freezing weather!!
We stayed at an awesome "Castle hotel" right outside the city of Trier. It had gorgeous views of the Mosel River and the city, and a wait staff that helped us with our German as we enjoyed our dinners and drinks. Lola loved the hotel because they had a big beagle named Herr Mueller who was about the most relaxed dog we have ever encountered. He did not even flinch when Lola introduced herself to him with her usual greeting: standing on two legs to look bigger and putting her paws in his face. Of course, "Kleine Maus", as the Germans call her (little mouse), had a fabulous time in Trier because old cities have so many smells!! We could hardly contain Kleine Maus during our walks through the old town.
On Friday night we went into the city for dinner, and we did most of our touring on Saturday. For once, we had sunny weather!! We haven't seen the sun for days, so it was great to get some blue skies. But it was still freezing - coldest it has been since we toured Rothenberg.
Trier is famous for its Roman sites. It was founded by Augustus in 16 B.C., and became the capital of the Roman western empire when Emperor Diocletian ruled (AD 285-305). First, we saw the Porta Nigra, which is the only remaining gate of the now ruined city walls and has portions dating back to the fourth century. While the other three city gates were ruined over time, this one survived as the home of St. Simeon, who lived there for seven years until he died in 1035.
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| View of Porta Nigra from inside the old town |
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| St. Simeon Monastery (est. 1035) |
As we walked into the town, we passed an interesting Venetian-style building with a door on its second story. According to our BFF Rick Steves, this was constructed in the 13th Century as a place where rich people kept their gold and silver. You could only access the building if the wooden steps leading down from the second story were in place.
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| House of the Three Magi (floating door on the second story) |
Next up was the Hauptmarkt, or the Market Square. A few pics below describe the sites in the Market Square.
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| Palace for the former archbishops of Trier (now an H&M) |
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| Tower of St. Gangolfs Church - in Latin has inscription: "Stay awake and pray" |
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| 15th Century Town Hall |
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| Entrance to St. Gangolf's Church | |
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| Inside St. Gangolf's Church |
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| Pretty Ceiling Paintings |
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| St. Peter's Fountain (1595) |
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We then toured the St. Peter's Cathedral in Trier. This was pretty cool. Its the oldest Christian church in Germany; Emperor Constantine started its construction around A.D. 326, at the same time he began the construction of St. Peter's in Rome. Inside the church are a number of ornate alters dedicated to former archbishops. As this was the "archbishop's church" as opposed to the "people's church" St. Gangolf, there was an ongoing competition to see who could have the higher tower. The towers of St. Peter's and St. Gangolf bear Latin inscriptions described in the captions of these photos that also reference each other. Also interesting, the Cathedral houses the supposed Holy Robe of Christ, thought to have been found by St. Helena (Constantine's mother) on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
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| Colin outside St. Peter's Cathedral |
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| Inscription reads: "For you never know the hour when the Lord will come." |
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| 12th Century Domkreuzgang Cloister |
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| Inside St. Peter's facing alters |
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| Back Alter of St. Peter's |
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| Christ's Robe - relic from St. Helena housed in Cathedral |
Our next stop was the largest intact Roman structure outside of Rome: the Konstantin Basilica, which started out as a throne room, but is now a practicing Protestant Church. Its enormous - for some perspective, you can fit the entire Porta Nigra inside! Next to the Basilica is the gorgeous Rococo Elector's Palace, added to the basilica in the 18th century to house the archbishop elector.
Finally, we went to the Imperial Baths and Amphitheater. Built by Constantine but never finished, these were the most intricate baths of the Roman world. The amphitheater, built around A.D. 200, seated at least 16,000. It was fun to see the amphitheater sitting right next to the countryside and vineyards - all the Roman sites plus vineyards seemed much more Italian than German - a nice change!
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| Imperial Baths (Kaisertherman) |
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| Amphitheater |
