What to see in Trier? – my little journey

Hi friends! Today I will tell you about my one – day journey to the ancient German city Trier. In the previous post about Luxembourg I told about exciting things in Luxembourg and after that trip I took a train and decided to go to Trier.

Trier is very close to Luxembourg – the distance is 41 kilometers, and with a train it took only about 1 hour. If you book your ticket in advance it costs 4,80€ , and trains run frequently. The fastest way to get toTrier is by driving a car – it will take you only 35 – 40 minutes from Luxembourg.

 

Trier is such an amazing and incredible city and it is definitely worth to visit, if you like ancient ruins and history. To say honestly one day will not be enough to visit all the sights of Trier. So, you can manage which of them will be the most important to see, if you plan one – day trip to Trier.

This city is considered the oldest in Germany, founded by Roman Emperor Octavian August in 16 BC. All the great monuments like a palace hall built by Emperor Constantine, the largest Roman gate outside Italy and the huge bathing complex are protected by UNESCO.

Porta Nigra

This is the largest gate north of Italy and the symbol of Trier. The gate is almost 2000 years old and is the best – preserved antique gate in the world. Built from light sandstone, the gate has changed its color to the black over this time because of dust and weather condition.

In the ancient times Trier has had four gates – in the North, South, West and East, and only Porta Nigra was preserved. Despite the gate was a part of the city walls, the purpose of Porta Nigra was not for defense but just for beauty.

Later, in the Middle Ages in one of the gate’s Tower was built a church named after the monk Simeon, who lived here as a hermit. The church existed until the 19th century when Napoleon Bonaparte ordered to bring the gate to its original condition and the church was destroyed.

Cathedral of Trier

This is the large complex of two different churches and the most impressive building in the town. The church dates back to the 4th century and now considered to be the oldest church in Germany and one of the oldest in the world. You should definitely visit it!

The church has a great importance not only from historical point of view, but also as a repository of very significant christian relics – the Jesus’ robe and the head of the Queen Elena, who gave her palace and the Jesus’ robe to the church. You can see the chapel of the Holy Tunic in the altar part.

The Cathedral combines several styles of architecture – baroque, gotique and Romanesque because parts of the church were built in different times. The church is located on the main square and open from 10.00 til 17.00 and entrance is free of charge.

Imperial Baths

If you walk to the Eastern part of the city of Trier you will discover the ruins of the magnificent Roman Imperial baths, which were built in the 3rd century and were the largest in the whole Roman empire. Their length is 250 meters. Unfortunately the baths were never completed.

Despite this solid age, the baths are in superb condition because they were repurposed for Trier’s Medieval city wall. You can walk through the archeological park and explore the labyrinth of underground tunnels and the hot water bath, which size is big enough for several hundreds of people.

Karl Marx House

This museum is located on Brückenstraße 10 in the Western part of the city. The house was built in 16th century and later was extended. Karl Marx and his family rented three room in the house and lived there only 1,5 years, then they moved to a house nearby the Porta Nigra.

The Karl Marx museum was opened in 1947 and since that was several times under the reconstruction. The modern exposition is dedicated to life and works of the philosopher and to the influence of his works on the development of communism, primarily in China and Russia.

The museum is very popular among Chinese tourists. The exhibition halls are designed in the minimalism style, and there are only few Marxs belongings. The entrance is 5€.

Trier Amphitheater

Only in Trier has survived the Roman amphitheater, and this is the northernmost Roman amphitheater in the world. You can find it outside of the city walls just past the Imperial Baths. The Amphitheater was built in the second century and hosted gladiators fights involving animals.

It was used until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century and after that, in the Middle Ages it was used as a quarry for the extraction of stones. The amphitheater has an intact basement, where gladiators and animals were kept until they were hoisted to the surface with a lift, which was in the middle of arena.

The Amphitheater can host about 20000 people and looks huge. While walking through the Amphitheater I had a strange feeling knowing that the bloody fight took place here.

My tips

Despite I didn’ stay in Trier because I traveled for one day from Luxembourg and back, I made some research and found a very good place to stay in Trier with the excellent location and price – this is the Hotel Aulmann on Booking. The cheapest single room with bathroom will cost 53 € and you can order breakfast for additional 8€. The rating on Booking is 8 out of 10, which is very good.

Regarding the food, I can recommend the Kartoffel Kiste restaurant, where I have been eaten. I just made a research where can I go for lunch and I wasn’t disappointed. I had nuddles with mushrooms and a soup. The food was great and staff very friendly.

So, if you decide to make a trip to Trier, you will spend there a wonderful time and get a lot of impressions about Roman ruins, German architecture, cozy town and delicious German cuisine.

Written by Alex.