I’ve now been in Germany for about a month and a half, and the travels have officially begun! As a result I’m a bit behind on my posts but that only means I’m having so much fun that it’s hard to find the time to sit down and write them.
I had the opportunity to visit Trier a few weeks ago. Trier is a little city two hours from Koblenz and it is absolutely full of history! Founded around the 16 BC by the Romans and later ruled by the Franks, the architecture and ruins tells of its rich and diverse history. It’s the oldest city in Germany by far and contains many Roman ruins in great condition. My favorite part was that I could walk down a street and see right next to one another buildings that were clearly Roman, French, and German. Because of this, perhaps it is best to show you Trier through pictures.
I met someone in my Wohnheim who lives in Trier and she offered to show me around. Contrary to what some people might tell you, German students are incredibly friendly and more than happy to show visitors around their city. She showed me the view of Trier from above near the University. From here you can see some of the Roman buildings like the baths.
This is called the Kaiserthermen, part of a series of Roman baths built around the 4th century. Look how the patterns in the bricks are perfectly preserved! And see the road there? Imagine if it were normal to drive past Roman ruins every day on your way to work!
The Electoral Palace here is a perfect example of what I mentioned earlier. It’s clearly French, but note the building behind it: that’s the Constantine Basilica, built around 300 AD. Even the walls, which you can’t see here, are Roman. I love history so I spend almost the entire time geeking out about how amazing all this is.
Constantine Basilica, where at one point the Romans kept horses. It is now used as a Protestant Church. It was built under the orders of Emperor Constantine and is still used today. Most buildings hundreds of years younger than it aren’t structurally sound enough to be used at all, and there are church services given here on a weekly basis. This thing is pretty amazing–it had floor and wall heating systems installed when it was built and though I doubt those work now who knows? Look at this basilica, it’s doing better than some 70 year old American buildings.
Trier Cathedral and Church of our Lady. The Church is painted on the interior with a floral pattern, a sort of understated beauty that I admired, while the Cathedral’s interior is made almost entirely out of marble. Very impressive–can you imagine what the choir sounds like? Quick side note: See the gold clock on the Cathedral? Most churches I’ve seen in Germany so far have one of those and I don’t know why, but I absolutely love them. I wonder sometimes if I can find a wall clock that looks like that but I think it wouldn’t look the same on the wall of my apartment.
This is the main square in Trier. Look how cute it is! Look at the flowers! And the paving! I think I’ve fallen in love with German town squares.
One last picture: this is me in front of Porta Nigra, the Roman city gate built in the 2nd century AD. Fun fact: Churches were built around the gate and some of it was destroyed during the Middle Ages to build them. Napoleon ordered the churches to be torn down and the gate restored. Good decision on his part, I think.
I hope you enjoyed looking at the pictures of Trier as much as I enjoyed visiting! If any of you should ever visit Trier, try Viez, a special apple wine supposedly only served in Trier. They even make special mugs to drink it out of! Germans appear to be incredibly proud of their regional differences and will insist that their city is completely different from any other. Local drinks testify to those differences in the best possible way. And of course, take the time to visit as many of the historic sites as possible. Other good ones to see that I didn’t post are the birthplace of Karl Marx, the ancient Roman bridge, and the amphitheatre. I still cannot grasp the fact that this is a city as old as the Roman empire.