Trier

Well I finally made a trip out and about during the weekend.  I took the train to Trier, Germany which is really close to the Luxembourg border.  The trip was nice and cut through the stunning German countryside and several towns.  What is nice about Trier is that if you get off the train at the main station you can make a lap around part of the city and see things the whole way.  I started at the Porta Nigra, the city gate, pictured above and below.  It is the largest surviving Roman city gate worldwide.  The structure is impressive and was populated with a festival as you can see in the above picture.

After the Porta Nigra I went to the Trier Cathedral which was high on my list of thigs to see because of their Cathedral treasury.  Below is a picture of the outside of the Cathedral.

The Cathedral a massive structure but only one forth the size of the original church.  The picture below is the stunning organ that is just suspended on the side of one of the walls.  It looks like it defies gravity.

The next picture is looking back on the church over where the priests sit I think.

I also took a picture of what I think was the baptismal font.  The picture does not even begin to give an idea about how massive this object is.

This is the ceiling that spans near the baptismal font.  It was breathtaking!

The treasury was one of my favorite parts of the church.  They had about 30 or so items so I only posted a few of the pictures.  The next photo looks like a tooth.

There were several books that were in the treasury and each one was a masterpiece of workmanship.  Most of them dated around 300-500 AD.

Another relic, an iron spike, used for what purpose I don't know.

I found out when I got to Trier that it is the birthplace of Karl Marx.  I had to go see the house.  The house had been turned into a museum but there were not many artifacts there, just a ton of information about his life.  It was pretty interesting but I would skip it unless you'd like to go for the novelty factor.

Trier also has a lot of Roman baths in the city.  The next few photos are of the Barbara Baths, which are the 4th largest baths in the Roman empire.  The site is under massive excavation and currently only about a third has been unearthed.

The Imperial baths, which is the fifth largest bath in the Roman empire was completely unearthed and absolutely amazing.  The following photo was taken from an observation tower and only shows part of the complex.  You can see the sports field at the top of the photo.

The imperial baths had a huge underground tunnel system that connected the various parts of the complex.  It was really neat to walk around there thinking about people who passed through there around 300 AD!

Another picture of part of the complex:

After the baths I walked up to the Electoral Palace which is Constantine's throne room and currently the seat of the district government.  I did not go inside but I took a picture of the outside which was really beautiful!

After that I went for a quick look at Imperial Throne Room, the largest surviving single room from Antiquity (220 x 90 x 110ft), which was fully built around 350.  I wanted to take pictures but it was not allowed.  All I can say is that room is HUGE!  It has been converted into a church and they had furnished it with some gorgeous art work.

After the Throne Room I was running out of time to see anything else so I headed to a local restaurant for an early dinner and to wait for my train which wasn't due for 3 more hours.  During that time the Germany-Argentina world cup game came on so I got to watch it with a few locals.  That was a neat experience especially since Germany stomped Argentina 4-0.  Trier went nuts at the end of the game with people honking horns and yelling and we even had several people on the train singing and dancing in the isles.

I had a great time in Trier and would recommend it to anyone who comes to the area.  It is a very easy city to walk in and not get lost.

Well that is all for now.  I am finally moving into my new place tomorrow and I will be without internet for a bit.  I'll post up again when I can!