TRIER
Sightseeing

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The city has an endearing way of living very much in the present and of putting its ancient monuments to current use. Constantine's throne hall , or Aula Palatina does double duty as a Lutheran church. The hall dates back to AD 310. An elongated, rectangular brick building (67 m long and 30 m high) with a vast semicircular apse, served as the throne hall of the Roman emperor or his representative. Following the town's sacking by Germanic tribes, the building was reduced to rubble. In the 12th century the apse was converted into a tower to accomodate the archbishop. In the 17th century, the Aula Palatina was integrated into the newly-built palace and its eastern wall partly demolished. During Napoleonic and Prussian times, the hall served as army barracks. The Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV eventually ordered its reconstruction. From 1856 it has served as the Protestant church of St. Saviour. Restored after bombing in 1944, its giant size still seems remarkable.

In front of the Aula is the "Kurfürstliches Schloss" with its typical pink baroque façade. The present palace was designed by Johannes Seiz and built in 1756-1762 for Johann Philipp von Waldersdorff. The central Typanum shows Pomona, Venus, Apollo and a group of angels. The stairs, which lead from the garden to the inner staircase, were designed in the 18th century but not built until 1981. They have beautiful handrails with typical Roccoco motifs.

Rock and pop festivals are staged in the Amphitheater. Convents and monasteries are used as hospitals, orphanages, nursing homes, and for government offices. The Dreikönigshaus harbors the city's best cafe and pastry shop.

The Porta Nigra is, of course, the most impressive monument of Trier. Not only is this best-preserved of all Roman city gates worldwide an old gate to the Roman city, but it is also the beginning of the present-day pedestrian zone, an eight-minute walk from the train station, a ten-minute walk from the passenger ship docking area, a spot right next to the two main hubs of Trier's extensive city bus network and in the vicinity of five hotels. Right next to the gate is the Tourist Information. In the 12th century the building was transformed into the two-storey church of St. Simeon and served as such until the early 19th century.

There are, of course, more historical sights in Trier than those mentioned below. Among these are attractive street ensembles such as Glockenstrasse, the painstakingly restored Krahnenstrasse, or the Zurlauben water front, but especially the complete Cathedral Close with the narrow passageways between houses for the members of the cathedral chapter: high walls built of recycled Roman material, elaborate gates, coats of arms, Latin inscriptions, and buildings from eight centuries.

Trier has 94 churches and chapels; besides those already mentioned there are others worth seeing such as St. Antonius (13th century), the former Jesuit Church (Jesuitenkirche, 13th century), or St. Irminen (18th century). The whole area around the Jesuitenkirche is an ensemble in itself with the Jesuit burial crypt where the Jesuit poet Friedrich Spee was buried in 1635 (key at the porter's), the 18th century University Graduation Hall (Promotionsaula), the former Jesuit School from 1610 (where Karl Marx finished in 1835), and the Diocesan Archives (Bistumsarchiv) with the old church records providing visitors with information about their ancestors.

For those to whom history, architecture, art and ogling monuments are only half the pleasure of traveling, gustatory delights being the other, Trier also has plenty to offer. Situated in the heart of the Moselle-Saar-Ruwer wine district, it is virtually synonymous with the light dry whites of that region. They ripen in the vineyards on the surrounding hills, making the city a kind of mecca for serious imbibers, and also gourmets. Trier abounds with quaint and historic wine taverns and restaurants, such as Zum Domstein, facing the Hauptmarkt. In the Olewig district, southeast of the Amphitheater, numerous vintners offer wine-tasting feasts with hearty stick-to-the- ribs food.

Besides wine and history, Trier is a good base for excursions to Luxembourg, the Belgian Ardennes, the extinct volcanoes and crater lakes of the Eifel region, and the densely wooded rolling hills of the bucolic Hunsrück area. The best view can be had by taking the cable car from Zurlaubener Ufer, near Kaiser-Wilhelm bridge, to the Weisshaus terrace, 300 feet above town.