St. Matthias - Reifferscheid, Germany
Posted by: 
dreamhummie
N 50° 28.657 E 006° 27.975
32U E 320229 N 5594803
Little statue of St. Matthias at the Matthiastor (St. Matthew's Gate) in Reifferscheid, Germany.
Waymark Code: WM1C924
Location: Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Date Posted: 07/06/2025
Views: 0
Small stone statue about 0.75mtr high in a niche above the gate.
Matthias holds an axe in one hand and a Bible in the other.
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"According to Acts 1:15-26, the apostle Mattias or Matthias was appointed by lot to fill the vacant place of the former apostle Judas Iscariot after his betrayal and suicide.
Outside the New Testament, Mattias appears in the Acts of Andrew and Mattias in the city of anthropophagus. According to tradition, he died a martyr's death by stoning in Jerusalem in about 63.
The apostle Mattias' bones were reportedly transferred to Trier by order of Helena, the mother of Roman emperor Constantine I. Since 1127, the relics have been venerated by pilgrims at the Benedictine abbey of St Matthias in Trier."
Source: (
visit link)
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About the St. Matthew's Gate:
"At this place the castle was safeguarded with a ditch and a gate (St. Matthew's gate). Originally a drawbridge led across the ditch, replaced by a stone dam in the 18th century.
St. Matthew's gate is a strong building made of break stones on a rectangular base, projecting out of the ring-wall and strengthened with solid twin towers. In fermer times the upper floor of the two-storey gate was the walk of defence, which was re-placed by a hipped roof about 1900. The gate origi-nally dates from the 14th century and received its cur-rent appearance after a lot of restorations."
Source: Information on the panel at the gate.