Trier, Porta Nigra (Black Gate)

(3 photos)

Germany’s capital of Roman Antiquity is a magnificent surprise. Located astride the Mosel River about six miles from the Luxembourg border, Trier is little known to most tourists who vacation in Europe, but it should be one of Germany’s most visited cities. One motto says, “Before Rome, there was Trier.” It served as a major Roman Empire capital, and the headquarters for the court of six different emperors. In Trier while we walked just 2,000 steps, we witnessed and enjoyed 2,000 years of history.

The mighty four-story Porta Nigra (Black Gate), built of huge cut stones joined without mortar, was built in the last part of the 2nd Century AD as part of the four-mile city wall. The Porta Nigra is now the threshold to centuries of history, and has remained the entrance to the main shopping street of both ancient and modern Trier. A town-house nearby, built in the 1700s, is where Karl Marx was born on on May 5, 1818.

Among the several sidewalk cafes in the Hauptmarkt, one can be recognized by the ever-popular Golden Arches — familiar food and drink, and there are clean restrooms on the second floor.
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The Porta Nigra is now the threshold to centuries of history, and has remained the entrance to the main shopping street of both ancient and modern Trier.
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And yet another view of the shopping street, with the old town gate.