Trier

We had an early start this morning. We had to catch coaches to take us to Trier, so we needed to have an early breakfast. Soon after nine, we boarded the coaches and were whisked to the town and deposited near the Porta Nigra, one of the Roman gates to the old city.

Trier is often described as Germany’s oldest city, and under the Romans, it was one of the most important urban centres north of the Alps. Its Roman name, Augusta Treverorum, hints at both its imperial status (“Augusta”) and the local Celtic tribe, the Treveri. Trier was founded around 16 BC during the reign of Augustus. What began as a provincial town grew rapidly thanks to its position on the Moselle River, a key trade route. By the 3rd–4th centuries AD, Trier had become extraordinarily important: It served as a residence for Roman emperors, including Constantine the Great. It was effectively the capital of the Western Roman Empire for periods in the late 3rd century. Its population may have reached 70,000–100,000, making it one of the largest cities in the empire at the time. Trier is remarkable because so much of its Roman infrastructure survives. Several sites are part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing.

Our tour guide started by taking us to the Porta Nigra. This is the best-preserved Roman city gate north of the Alps. Built around 180 AD, its darkened stone gives it the name “Black Gate.” This is an impressive building, even now, though some refurbishment is underway at present, so on one side is free of scaffolding.

From Porta Nigra, we walked past the home where Karl Marx was born and spent the first 16 years of his life. Then we walked on to the heart of Trier, where, after the Roman era, was the lively main market square, the Hauptmarkt. It sits just a short walk from the Roman sites, but the atmosphere shifts completely—from imperial stone to colourful medieval civic life. The square dates back to around the 10th century, when Trier became an important ecclesiastical centre under the Archbishop-Electors. It developed as the city’s main marketplace and social hub with traders from across the Moselle region gathering here; it hosted markets, festivals, and public announcements, and it reflected Trier’s role within the Holy Roman Empire rather than the earlier Roman world. Today, it hosted a wine market where pop-up stalls sprang up around the square, surrounding tables and benches where people could sit and sample wines from all of the local wineries that were on show today. It was a little early in the morning to start on that.

We walked from the market to the Basilica, where our guide finished the tour. As he left, we went into the Basilica. It contains Holy relics brought from Palestine: the Robe of Christ and a nail from the cross. The Robe is only displayed a couple of times a year, and last time it was on full public display (in 2012), 650,000 people came to see it. The nail from the cross is on display in their museum. 

From the museum, we walked out to the cloisters. Cloisters are a happy place for me. I find them serene, and they seem to encourage contemplation. I could have stayed there for hours, but we were both in need of some coffee. We made our way back to the square and found a coffeehouse where we could take on caffeine in appropriate amounts. We then made our way back through the Porta Nigra to the meeting point, where we boarded our bus and headed back to the boat.

The boat sailed soon after we returned. Whilst the sun had been shining throughout the day, there had been a very chilly wind. So much so that I resorted to my leather jacket when we were out and about during the morning. After a light lunch, we found a spot on deck and angled our chairs to protect us from the wind as we drifted back downriver, back toward Bernkastel-Kues, where we would dock for the night.

Early evening, the Captains (yes, we have two) gave us a debrief on the safety drill we had yesterday. He started by acknowledging the issues that had arisen and then opened up for questions. Being a ship full of senior people, we got the same questions and the same points raised time and again, as nobody listened to other people’s questions or the answers that had been given. The old bat behind me was raging until I turned to her and pointed out that the navigation channel on the Moselle was on 2.7m deep, and the boat can’t actually sink. It could settle on the bottom, and we could remain in the lounge drinking wine without a problem. That shut her up.

After dinner (DI had steak, and I had pork loin), we made the most of the evening. The wind had dropped, and it was quite warm. 

We went for a walk along the riverbank and looped back through the town before returning to the boat for a cross between a quiz and bingo… during which we won some prizes. By 10 p.m. I was flagging, so we went back to our room for some Kindle time before bed.