By Ines Keane
Germany’s oldest city? Cologne, Kempten and Worms would like a word. Wikipedia’s article on Trier says the city is considered Germany’s oldest, then adds that those three contest the claim. We report the argument and settle nothing.
A city with two founding years
Wikipedia’s infobox gives 17 BC as the founding date. The body text of the same article says the Romans established Augusta Treverorum around 16 BC. The name means the city of Augustus among the Treveri. The article says Trier became capital of the province of Belgic Gaul, was one of four Roman capitals in the Tetrarchy, and was a residence of the Western Roman Emperor from 293 to 395. It gives the fourth-century population as about 75,000, possibly up to 100,000. Today, it says, 112,737 people live there (31 December 2024).
The listing
UNESCO inscribed the site in 1986 as the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier. UNESCO’s own page lists nine components: the Porta Nigra, the Moselle Bridge, the Barbara Baths, the Imperial Baths, the Amphitheatre, the Aula Palatina, the Igel Column, the Cathedral of St Peter and the Church of Our Lady. It gives the property area as 7.3 hectares and says the city was called the “second Rome” at the end of the third century.
The gate
The Porta Nigra is the piece most people photograph. Wikipedia’s article on the gate says construction began in 170 AD (infobox) or after 170 AD (text), in grey sandstone, and that the name means black gate because the stone darkened in the Middle Ages. The Roman name is lost. Wikipedia calls it the best-preserved Roman city gate north of the Alps.
It survived, the article says, because it was made into a church. Stones were reused and the iron and lead braces were prised out, with traces still visible on the north side. After 1028 a Greek monk, Simeon, lived in the ruins, and after his death in 1035 a monastery was built beside it. The gate became two stacked churches with identical floor plans. In 1804 Napoleon ordered it returned to its Roman form. A local legend, the article adds, says townspeople talked him into sparing it.
The rest of the Roman town
Wikipedia’s article on the World Heritage site gives the rest. The Amphitheatre dates from the mid-second century and held up to 20,000 people. The Imperial Baths, fourth century, are described as incomplete. The Aula Palatina is an early fourth-century basilica; Wikipedia’s Trier article calls it a throne hall about 67 metres long, built for Constantine and now a Protestant church. The Igel Column is a third-century burial monument. The Roman bridge over the Moselle is dated to the second century and, Wikipedia says, is the oldest bridge north of the Alps still used by traffic. The Zentrum der Antike, a heritage centre, says in a flyer that the listing comprises nine buildings and that 2026 is its fortieth anniversary.
December
Wikipedia says the Trier Christmas Market is held every year on the Hauptmarkt and the Domfreihof in front of the cathedral. It gives no dates, and neither do we.
Dates in order
- 17 BC or around 16 BC: Augusta Treverorum founded, according to Wikipedia.
- 170 AD: construction of the Porta Nigra begins, according to Wikipedia.
- Mid-second century: the Amphitheatre, according to Wikipedia.
- 293 to 395: Western emperors’ residence, according to Wikipedia.
- 1028 to 1035: Simeon in the gate, according to Wikipedia.
- 1804: Napoleon orders the gate restored to its Roman form, according to Wikipedia.
- 1986: UNESCO inscription.
Side by side
Wikipedia gives two founding years and two phrasings for the gate’s start. UNESCO’s page gives no construction dates for the individual monuments, so the dates here come from Wikipedia. Our reading: Roman dates in general are approximate, and a year given to the digit usually hides a range. That is our inference.
What kind of sources these are
Wikipedia, which anyone can edit; UNESCO’s World Heritage listing; and a flyer from the Zentrum der Antike, a heritage centre. We read no city tourism page. We have left out opening times, tickets, tours and restoration schedules.
What we left out
We left out the cathedral’s relics and the church histories, the city’s later political history, and every cost or visitor figure.
Quick answers
How old is the Porta Nigra? According to Wikipedia, construction began in 170 AD or shortly after, in grey sandstone.
Why is it called the Black Gate? Wikipedia says the name is Latin for black gate and arose in the Middle Ages because the stone had darkened. The Roman name is lost.
Is Trier Germany’s oldest city? Wikipedia says it is considered so, but that Cologne, Kempten and Worms contest the claim.
Related on this site: printed-advent-calendar-munich-origins, garden-gnome-grafenroda-terracotta, black-forest-ham-protected-name
Roam first. Shop later.