Melissa's Amusings: April 2014

Helena, Constantine's mother, donated her house to be converted into the Bishop's church. The fortress-like cathedral built above her palace has been a Bishop's Church for 1700 years. It was originally four times larger than it is today. Throughout the years it has been damaged several times and rebuilt.Because of its 4th century Roman core, it is the oldest cathedral North of the Alps. The cathedral has three Romanesque naves with Gothic vaulting/archways and Baroque embellishments. Trier cathedral and the Church of Our Lady (located next door) have been on the UNESCO World Cultural heritage list since 1986.

Trier Cathedral on the left and the smaller Church of Our Lady on the right

I am on the ground backed up against a building and still could not get the churches from top to bottom in one picture!

Justin and Nathaniel enjoy my picture taking 'positions' :-)

Once inside, we scatter and explore on our own the 1700 years of art and architecture that are represented in this cathedral.

Yep, those pointy arches are Gothic :-)

The elaborate burial altars indicate the importance of Trier's archbishops.

Altar of the Three Magi--Archbishop Johann Hugo Orsbeck's Burial Altar

closer view of the stone carving

All Saint's Altar---the burial Altar for Archbishop Lothar von Metternich

Altar with pipe organ in background

This eye-catching pipe organ was installed in 1974.

"Swallow's Nest Organ"- named for its position so high up on the wall

has 5,602 pipes in 67 registers

The Romanesque tympanum of Christ between the Virgin and St. Peter...not a good picture of it, but was the only one I took :-(

To the left of the door with the tympanum, is a burial arch monument and epitaph for Archbishop Heinrich von Finstingen.

The lit candles lured me to this area, with John the Baptist's Altar on the right and the Lady Chapel located behind the arches on the left. Once here, I notice quite a few people lined up further up the stairs that is located to the right of the altar. Fortunately, without knowing what everyone was lined up for, I decided to wait in line and see where it led to.

Later, I found out that what I had seen was a specially built Baroque Chapel/shrine.Behind these locked golden gates of the Chapel....

is Trier Cathedral's precious relic: the Holy Robe. It is said that St. Helena brought back the Holy robe from one of her pilgrimages to the Holy Land and entrusted it to her son's Church in Trier. This seamless tunic is believed to have been worn by Christ during the Crucifixion. Pilgrimages have been made to the Holy Robe, the last one was in 1996. This pilgrimage became a festival of all believers, and now it is a yearly celebration- The Holy Robe Days. It is during this festival that the Holy Robe Chapel is open, but the Holy Robe still can not be viewed due to the fragility of the material.

facade of the Holy Robe Chapel

There are beautiful views from the Holy Robe Chapel and...

Central Nave

South Nave

Vaulted ceilings and pipe organs

Baroque baby Angels

Besides the Chapel of the Holy robe, there are still many sights to enjoy.

View of Main altar with the Holy Robe Chapel in the background.

We could have spent the whole morning here because every nook and cranny had a lot to see!

Justin taking a pic of Archbishop Johann von Metzenhausen's Burial monument, the 'Golden Gate" (formerly choir screen, the Holy Trinity/Holy Sacrament Altar behind the Golden Gate, and in the left hand corner is John the Evangelist's Altar- Archbishop Johann von Schonenburg's Burial monument.

Below the East Choir is the St. Helena Crypt.

The Old Pulpit details captivated me quite a bit....

St. Catherine's Altar in the background.

16th Century Pulpit

The West Choir is beautiful with its...

"Baptismal Font" next to the stairs to the West Choir

half dome with white stucco figures....

on a dark blue background....

has a very dramatic effect.

Also in this area is a line of busts...

on a very intricate wooden inlay wall.

From the West Choir we get another view of the Cathedral.


On the left is the Cross Altar and Grave plate for Archbishop Richard von Greiffenklau

Looks like Jim and Geoffrey are ready to move on to the...

Cloister

Next on the list is the Church of Our Lady, which is one of Germany's earliest Gothic churches. I found this church to be very intriguing with its round cruciform shape. The 4 portals in rounded niches and the 8 rounded altar niches makes it so that the floor plan resembles a 12 petaled rose; the Rosa Mystica- a symbol of the Virgin Mary.

the floor diagram for Church of Our Lady is on the upper right

We enter thru an ornate doorway.

A minute later I got an unobstructed view :-)

Inside, the first thing that got my attention was the beautiful ceiling.

I liked the light and airy feel....

along with the botanical theme.

Then there was the beautiful post-war stained glass windows.

The church is supported by 12 columns, symbolic of the Apostles. The Apostles and the 12 articles of the Apostle's Creed are painted on the columns.

From one spot, marked by a black stone, all 12 Apostles can be seen. I am not sure if I was ever on it, but I may have been close when I took some of these pics :-)

Of course we need a cherub to make it all complete!

Throughout the day as we walked from one major sight to another, we had plenty to keep us interested. Near Porta Nigra, there were statues of Karl Marx being displayed.

It would be easy to lose your kids in there!

500 one meter high statues were placed in different areas of Trier. They were part of an exhibit at the Museum Simeonstift Trier commemorating the 130th anniversary of Marx's death in 1883. The artist for this temporary 'Karl Marx' display is the political activist Ottmar Horl. He made the statues exactly the same, except that they are in 4 shades of red to indicate that Marxism can be interpreted in more ways than one.According to the artist, the exhibit is in honor of Marx's 195th birthday.