Trier

A couple of weekends ago we took a little holiday and visited the city of Trier on the Moselle River.   It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC.  It was founded centuries before Ancient Rome.  It was a beautiful, picturesque city.  Aaron and I have been there once before but we wanted to see it again share the ancient Roman ruins with the kids.

These are the beautiful buildings in the town square.

Do you see the building with the bells on it?  I thought that was unique.

This is the Three King's House.  Before the store was put in, the only way in and out of the house was through that door on the second story next to the windows.  They had to use a ladder.

One of the most famous of the ancient Roman ruins in Trier is the Porta Nigra. It is today the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps and has been designated a World Heritage Site.  The name Porta Nigra originated in the Middle Ages due to the darkened color of its stone.

 

It was fun to walk around inside the gate.

Next we saw the Cathedral of Saint Peter.  It is the oldest cathedral in the country.  The edifice is notable for its extremely long life span under multiple different eras each contributing some elements to its design, including the center of the main chapel being made of Roman brick laid under the direction of Saint Helen, resulting in a cathedral added on to gradually rather than rebuilt in different eras. Its dimensions, 112.5 by 41 m, make it the largest church structure in Trier. Since 1986 it has been on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. 

One of the highlights inside the cathedral is a Baroque chapel for the relic of the Seamless robe of Jesus, recovered from the interior of the high altar in 1512.

Behind those doors is the robe of Jesus.  This is all you are able to see, you can't see the actual robe.  It is the robe Jesus wore when He died.  It is only exhibited every few decades.

Palace of Trier.

The ancient roman amphitheatre.  It was used for spectator sports like  gladiator games.  This is all that remains of this one.

We walked underneath the amphitheatre.

My three little gladiators....

On our walk to look at all of the sites we had to stop and enjoy the beautiful flowers.

Our last stop of the ancient roman ruins was the roman baths.  This one is the largest one north of the Alps.   The baths were used not only for bathing but for socializing as well.  The baths were an important place in the lives of Romans. Built as public monuments, they were used by everyone, whether rich or poor. Only slaves couldn't use them. A person could eat, exercise, read, drink, shop, socialize, and discuss politics.

 The best part for the kids was to run in all of the tunnels under the baths! 

We had a nice day in Trier enjoying all of the sites.  I hope you enjoyed my little tour!!  Soon I will write about our next stop in Burnkastle-Kues......