Historic Cities · Germany
Trier through the ages
Trier, formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves and Triers, is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the west of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, near the border with Luxembourg and within the Moselle wine region.
Trier in AD 310
Imperial Trier
Augusta Treverorum in 310 is a western imperial residence swelling with building works, court servants, soldiers and merchants as Constantine establishes monumental architecture. The walk passes the great Porta Nigra, the newly completed brick basilica of the imperial palace, the half-built imperial baths, river quays and the amphitheatre tucked into the surrounding vineyards.
The skyline is a mix of low rows of timber-framed and stone-insulated houses with red tile roofs, punctuated by the dark stone bulk of the Porta Nigra, the broad brick mass of the new basilica (Aula Palatina) and scaffolds around vast bath blocks. Streets run in a Roman grid; the Moselle carries flat-bottomed barges to timber quays and long horrea store amphorae and grain. Outside the walls, vine-clad slopes and the semicircular amphitheatre rise among small farmsteads.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Moselle Bend Panorama → Vineyard Track → Stone Bridge Approach → Western Bridgehead Gate → Porta Nigra → Cardo by the Gate → Forum Romanum → Viehmarkt and Forum Baths → Horrea at St. Irminen → Moselle Quays → …
Step inside — 14 interiors
Western Bridge Guardroom · Bridgehead Customs Office · Gate Guard Chamber · Forum Basilica Hall · Viehmarkt Market Hall · St. Irminen Horrea Vault · Riverfront Grain Horreum · Imperial Audience Hall · Palace Reception Hall · Imperial Baths Hypocaust · Barbara Baths Tepidarium · Amphitheatre Vaulted Corridors · Potters' Kiln House · Mausoleum Burial Chamber
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Augusta Treverorum.
Trier in 1150
Archbishops' Trier
Trier in 1150 is a powerful archiepiscopal city built on Roman foundations, where Roman gates and a great cathedral anchor a dense medieval town. Walkers will pass the Porta Nigra converted to a church, the cathedral's Romanesque westwork and the busy Hauptmarkt, then descend to quays where Moselle wine is loaded and see monastic houses and Roman ruins that still shape streets and sightlines.
The skyline mixes massive Roman stone — the squat, rusticated Porta Nigra and the long, plain mass of the Aula Palatina — with a new Romanesque cathedral westwork of towers and an extra apse; tight lanes of timber-framed houses with steep, slate or shingle roofs crowd market squares; the Moselle cuts a slow, reflective ribbon with vineyards climbing red-sandstone slopes; open-air markets, timber carts and the occasional clerical procession animate the compact stone-and-timber town.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Vineyard Approach → Römerbrücke West Bank → On the Roman Bridge → East Bank Landing → Porta Nigra Gate → Porta Nigra Exterior → Street to Hauptmarkt → Hauptmarkt → Market Cross → St Gangolf's Square → …
Step inside — 13 interiors
Bridgekeeper's Lodge · Riverside Customs Hall · Lower Church Interior · Upper Church Nave · Meat Hall · Market Hall Under the Cross · Westwork Chapel of the Robe · Cathedral Nave · Chapter House Scriptorium · Cloister Garth and Ambulatory · Riverside Wine Cellar · Vintner's Press House · Abbey Choir and Radiant Chapels
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Trier.
Trier in 1810
Napoleonic Trier
Trier in 1810 is a provincial centre under French imperial administration, its medieval and ecclesiastical order recently dismantled and Roman remains newly exposed. The walk shows the Moselle valley city where vintners' carts, French engineers, classical scholars and secularised abbeys rub shoulders beneath the towers of the cathedral and the freshly revealed Porta Nigra.
The city sits in a hollow of red sandstone hills clothed in vineyards, a ribbon of the Moselle cutting past stone quays and low warehouses. Roofs are mostly grey slate and red tile over timber-framed houses and stucco facades; church towers and Roman masonry punctuate a compact, irregular skyline. Streets are narrow, cobbled and busy with horse-drawn carts, porters and soldiers. The recently exposed dark Roman stone of the Porta Nigra contrasts with pale new repair work and the pale classical façades added under French rule.
The walk — 21 streets, squares and views
Petrisberg Panorama → Römerbrücke Approach → Moselle Quay and Cranes → Vintners' Landing → Old Crane (Alte Krahnen) → Porta Nigra Exterior → Niederstraße and Gate Street → Hauptmarkt and Fountain → St Gangolf's Church → Marktstraße Merchants' Row → …
Step inside — 12 interiors
Moselle Warehouse Cellar · Vintner's Press House · Old Crane Storage Hall · Porta Nigra Vaulted Passage · Market Street Counting House · Cathedral Nave · Liebfrauen Choir Chapel · Aula Palatina Great Hall · Amphitheatre Arena · Baths Hypocaust Vaults · Simeonstift Cloister · Matthias Abbey Shrine Chapel
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Trier.
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