Germany's Oldest City: Trier

Trier is one of those cities that is really close to where we live and also highly talked about.  We decided to head up there for a few hours after church and check it all out!! We followed the self guided walking tour outlined in Rick Steve's book, which are always super helpful!

We drove into Trier and parked in a garage semi-across the street from the Porta Nigra.  Parking was pretty reasonable at about 3.00 Euro for the day.  You can hit most of the historical sites in a few hours very easily.  We also sat down and had a nice meal, which always takes at least an hour in Europe! 

We started at the Porta Nigra, which is the only remaining Roman gate to the city.  It's referred to as the black gate and is one of the best Roman ruins here in Germany.  It was funny when we were there there was a Roman reenacting tour going on.  We didn't go into the Porta Nigra, but you can pay 3.00 Euro if you want to go into the old Roman ruin and explore.  

From the Porta Nigra we walked a little ways and found Karl Marx house where he lived until he was 17. 

Next, we found the House of the Three Magi, which according to Rick Steves was significant because rich men did not put their money in banks, but rather in their homes.  Since they were trying to protect their valuables, they had homes like this one and a floating door had a wooden staircase that could be pulled up as needed. 

 Street Performers 

 Eventually, you arrive to the main square.  It was really pretty, but more modern day Germany than we were expecting for being the “Oldest City” in Germany.  I think it was the oldest city due to it being under the Holy Roman Empire way back in 16 B.C.  Right off the main square you can see the cathedral, which to us was the best party of Trier. 

When you travel through Europe, most people want to see all of the churches in each town they visit. They are beautiful and elaborate and some are similar, while some are very different.  I will admit, sometimes it gets old looking at the churches and they do tend to blend together after a while.  But, when you are standing in one and imagining all the hard work that went into building such amazing places with crazy detail so long ago, it is pretty incredible.  Ryan and I always wonder how they did it without all the technology we have today.  It gives meaning to the word “labor” and these churches took years and probably decades to build, which makes them worth a look.  So far, this Cathedral is one of our favorites.  It was so different from many we’ve seen.  

 This is the oldest Christian church in Germany.  Constantine’s mother lived here and allowed part of her palace to used for the Cathedral.  It’s free to get in and very pretty!  If you pay and extra you can get into the Treasury, which is said to house the Holy Robe of Christ and a nail that he was crucified with.  We took pictures of the pictures, but did not pay to go into the treasury. 

Next on our Roman Trier adventure was the Basilica, which is the largest Roman structure that exists outside of Rome! They say that the Porta Nigra can actually fit inside!!

One of Trier’s top museums according to Rick Steves is the Archaeological Museum, which costs about 6.00 Euro to enter.  You will find lots of Roman art and the store of Trier.  We did not have a lot of time or interest in a museum that day, so I can’t really comment on that!

Last on our city walk, we landed at the Imperial Baths built by Constantine.  We didn’t pay the 3.00 Euro to enter, but saw it from the outside and it was pretty neat. 

 If you want to walk a tad bit further you can also hit up the Amphitheater ruins and pay the 3.00 Euro to enter there as well.  We didn’t have time and we were hungry, so we skipped this as well! 

We found a restaurant recommended by Rick Steves called Krim.  He said it was Mediterranean, but we felt it was more German.  Ryan a horse steak and I had an amazing meal as well.  We shared a local Trier dish with applesauce, bacon, and dumplings, which was amazing!!

Overall, it was a nice little half day adventure and cool to see such old ruins left by the Romans.  From Kaiserslautern it took us about an hour to get there and a little hydroplaning scare.  Definitely a nice little place to check out while living here and an easy trip to take our families too when they visit!!

Prost!