My European Exposure: Trier, Germany

Well, after a really cold and snowy January, we finally ventured out Valentine's Day weekend. We got up early Friday morning and drove to our first stop for the weekend, Trier, Germany. Trier was an ancient Roman capital. It was founded in 16 B.C. by Augustus and was a favored residence for numerous Roman emperors, including Constantine. The ancient Roman city was surrounded by a four mile wall, with four gates and forty-seven round towers. The only surviving gate is where we started our tour of this city...the Porta Nigra (black gate)!

This first picture has a huge ball of light, otherwise known as the sun, shining right through the top of the gate. We didn't see a whole lot of this in January, so it was such a welcome sight!! Coupled with the fact that the temperature was about 43 degrees with no winds, this day felt SO good! (Did I just say 43 degrees felt good?? Who am I??)

A better picture of the Porta Nigra without the blinding light!

There are four levels inside the gate, and the construction is really amazing, considering when and how it must have been built. All four of us thoroughly enjoyed exploring the interior of this gate.

View of the city from inside the gate -

That little pink "house" over the EuroShop was Karl Marx's childhood home. He lived there from ages one through seventeen.

Trier's Market Square -

This lovely pink and white building was once a palace for the archbishop. Now, it's an H&M!

Our next stop was St. Peter's Cathedral, the oldest Christian church in Germany. Constantine began construction of this church (along with St. Peter's in Rome) in 326 A.D. to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his reign.

These organ pipes were absolutely beautiful!

The most important relic in St. Peter's Cathedral is the Holy Robe of Christ, which is the garment said to have been worn by Jesus during the crucifixion. Now y'all can just group me with the official doubters on this because, really, how could they ever prove it? There are evidently a lot of non-doubters though because throngs, meaning millions, of people come to see the robe when it is on display every few years, the last time being in 2012. The rest of the time it remains hidden behind this gate at the far end of the church.

Next door to St. Peter's Cathedral is the Church of Our Lady which is said to be the oldest Gothic church in Germany.

The stained glass in this church is so pretty, and the sun coming through it was just mesmerizing.

After touring these churches, we headed to the Archaeological Museum. On our walk there, we passed this gorgeous 18th century building which houses local government offices today.