Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St. Peter and Church of our Lady in Trier
N 49° 45.572 E 006° 38.625
32U E 330301 N 5514559
The city of Trier, on the Moselle river in Germany, has probably the most extensive collection of ancient Roman monuments north of the Alps.
Waymark Code: WM1ARH
Location: Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany
Date Posted: 03/18/2007
Views: 283
The name Trier has its origins in the name of a Celtic tribe called the Treveri which lived there prior to the arrival of the Romans.
The Romans under Julius Caesar first subdued the Treveri in 58 to 50 BC. No later than 16 BC the Romans founded the city of Augusta Treverorum ("City of Augustus in the land of the Treveri"). The honour of being named after the Emperor was one shared only by Augsburg and Augst in northern Switzerland. Following the reorganisation of the Roman provinces in Germany in 16 BC, the Emperor Augustus decided that the city should become capital of the province of Belgica (which lends its name to the modern country of Belgium).
From 293 to 395 AD, Trier was one of the residences of the Western Roman Emperor. Emperor Constantius II resided here from 328 to 340 AD as did the emperors Valentinian I and Theodosius I after him.
From the second half of the third century onwards, Trier was the seat of an archbishopric; the first bishop being Eucharius. From 271 to 274 AD, Trier was the capital of the breakaway Gallic Empire under the emperors Tetricus I and II. Under Valentinian I, Trier was the largest city north of the Alps.
In the year 275 AD, the city was destroyed in an invasion by the Germanic tribe called the Alamanni. Under the rule of Constantine the Great (306 – 337 AD), the city was rebuilt and buildings such as the Palastaula (known today as the Constantine Basilica) and the Imperial Baths were constructed.
Roman Trier had been subjected to attacks by Germanic tribes from 350 AD onwards, but these had been repulsed by Emperor Julian. After the invasions of 407 the Romans were able to reestablish the Rhine frontier and hold northern Gaul tenuously until the end of the 450s, when control was finally lost to the German tribe called the Franks and local military commanders claiming to represent central Roman authority. During this period Trier was repeatedly sacked and captured by the Franks (possibly in 413 and 421 AD), as well as by the Huns under Attila in 451 AD. The city became definitively part of Frankish territory (Francia Rhinensis) in 475 AD. As a result of the conflicts of this period, Trier's population decreased from an estimated 80,000 in the 4th century to 5,000 at the beginning of the 6th century.
Trier is well known for its well-preserved Roman and medieval buildings, which include:
- the Porta Nigra, the best preserved Roman city gate north of the Alps
- ruins of three Roman baths, among them the largest Roman baths north of the Alps
- the huge Constantine Basilica, a basilica in the original Roman sense, being the 67 m long throne hall of Roman Emperor Constantine; it is today used as a Protestant church.
- the Trier Cathedral (German: Trierer Dom or Dom St. Peter), which dates back to Roman times.
- the Roman amphitheatre;
- the Roman bridge (German: Römerbrücke) across the Moselle River, which is the oldest bridge north of the Alps still crossed by traffic;