Melissa's Amusings: Germany Vacation- Trier's Roman Sights;Porta Nigra

For our first excursion/day trip in Germany, would we select a typical German town/scenes? Oh no, we went for the more unexpected (and fairly close), Roman sights in the city of Trier. During the 1st century A.D., Trier was a roman colony and by the end of the 3rd century it was the 'Second Rome' with a population of about 80,000 and was one of the capitals of the Tetrarchy.
We know that we have found the old section of the city when Porta Nigra comes into view.It can't be missed as it looms over the north entrance to the old section of the city.

Porta Nigra, a fortified gate built between 160-200 A.D. is all that is left of a 3.75 mile wall with four gates that surrounded the city. The massive wall was gradually destroyed as its stone and iron were pillaged for different buildings.This section was preserved because Bishop Poppo had this gate changed into 2 churches,a lower and upper, in memory of the hermit Simeon(St. Simeon of Trier) who had lived in the gate for 7 years. Napoleon destroyed the church in 1803, but parts did survive.

Porta Nigra-'Black Gate', got its name during the Middle Ages. By then the sandstone blocks had a dark patina caused by small organisms.

No mortar was used for keeping the massive blocks together. Instead metal clamps connected them together,which ended up being stolen by metal thieves.

Porta Nigra is 118 feet long, 70.5 feet wide and 90 feet tall....quite impressive!!

To semi-plan our exploration of Trier, we use the information from the visitor center, which is located conveniently next to the Gate.

When paying the entrance fee for the different Roman Sites a very nice self guiding tour pamphlet is included.

Each one folds out to approx. 12"x12" and is a combination of info and illustrations.I thought they were kind of cute :-)

I tried using the guide in Porta Nigra, but decided that I was getting too far behind everyone else when I tried to look at everything, take pictures, and read the info.So, now I really appreciate the information in the pamphlets as I put these blogs together!
We enter the west tower into a room with a Romanesque barrel vault.

The spiral staircase was the eye-catcher for me.

I was going to get a photo of each picture that was displayed.But after taking this one, a costumed man came by me and without a word started shooing me away, as if I was a pesky fly. As I was leaving, a small school group joined him.

I thought he was a bit rude, so I took his picture....I don't think he liked that :-)

The stone was cut by bronze saws powered by mill wheels and the stone cutters' marks are still visible on many of the blocks.

A stone block may weigh up to 2200 lbs.

The next level up was converted to the lower church for the laymen. The front hall retains its baroque wall reliefs of different saints from the church's past.

Behind Justin is the battlement of the wall/gate and was used as side aisles for the church.

The middle window was enlarged into a doorway for access to the church's lower hall. Since this entry is kind of high up, the surrounding area outside was banked up to reach the entrance.

Views of the lower hall from the spiral staircase.

The second floor was made into the upper church for the clergy of Simeonstift monastery.Throughout this level are baroque rococo decorations that give me an inkling of how beautiful this level would have been.