Trier right on the border of Germany and Luxemburg is reported to be the oldest German town and host of the most and best preserved Roman ruins north of the Alps.
With that in mind we set off to put this information to the test. We started with the Porta Nigra – the city’s entrance gate which dates back to the 2nd century AD. It was a very impressive gate (the city is famed for it) and in surprisingly very good shape considering Europe’s tumultuous history since that time.
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| The Porta Nigra |
Next we continued up the main drag of town into the Markethalle – main marketplace which had an abundance of fresh flowers for sale. All of the flowers here in Europe are the most beautiful i have ever seen, whether it be in these markets, florist shops or even the supermarkets – a florists dream! And they are soooooo cheap! We get scummy flowers back home that’s for sure (guys this is not an excuse not t buy flowers for your gal).
Nearly distracted from sightseeing by the flowers and deliciously sinful looking crepes we needed to cleanse ourselves at the Trier cathedral. This cathedral was pretty important as it was the first to be built in Germany under Roman sanction after Christians were given religious freedom in the time of Emperor Constantine.
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| Trier cathedral |
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| The swallow's nest organ |
This cathedral (along with Cologne and Mainz) was the seat of the ruling archbishops of the time. Also continued in the cathedral is the holy relic of the Holy Robe, believed to be the garment worn by Jesus Christ. It was bought by Constantine’s mother Helena to Trier to be placed in the cathedral. Dave was extremely disappointed he couldn’t see the robe (it’s kept in a wooden box inside an air-conditioned glass case) – I think he just wanted to try it on really.
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| The sanctuary where the robe is kept |
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| Glass air conditioned box with the wooden box inside |
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| A photo of a photo of the robe |
Not done with the churches we carried on to the throne room of Emperor Constantine – a colossal Roman building which has now been converted into a rather boring and modern Protestant church. Originally it would have been decked out in marble and lavish fittings suitable for a throne room of course.
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| The exterior of Constantine's throne room |
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| The now boring inside of the protestant church |
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| We were very impressed with the sheer size of the building |
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| Trier's PINK palace |
Last stop on the Roman ruin tour was the Kaiserthermen, ruins of the old Roman bath house. Once again it its time this would have been another monumental complex.
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| Roman bath complex |
There is also another amphitheatre in Trier but we didn’t get that far. We figured the colosseum and the version in Verona were enough for us and the rather chilly day was demanding we head to the marketplace for hot chocolates before hitting the road once again (ps they were delicious and hit the spot perfectly).
We once again hit the Autobahn this time checking Jim’s directions with the map of Germany just to make sure the highways we were taking corresponded. The eventual destination the North western city of Cologne or Koln as the Germans spell it.
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