The
Cathedral of Saint Peter, TrierTrier is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC. Trier is not the only city claiming to be Germany's oldest, but it is the only one that bases this assertion on having the longest history as a city, as opposed to a mere...
, the seat of the Roman Catholic
ArchbishopIn Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In many Christian Churches, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in...
Bishop of Trier, in the
Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 federal states of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz....
, is the oldest
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. The edifice is notable for its extremely long life span under multiple different eras each contributing some elements to its design, including the center of the main chapel being made of Roman brick laid under the direction of
Saint HelenSaint Helena also known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople was the consort of Emperor Constantius, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I. She is traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross.-Family life:Helena's birthplace is not known with certainty...
, resulting in a cathedral added on to gradually rather than rebuilt in different eras.
The
Cathedral of Saint Peter, TrierTrier is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC. Trier is not the only city claiming to be Germany's oldest, but it is the only one that bases this assertion on having the longest history as a city, as opposed to a mere...
, the seat of the Roman Catholic
ArchbishopIn Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. In many Christian Churches, this means that they lead a diocese of particular importance called an archdiocese, or in the Anglican Communion an Ecclesiastical Province, but this is not always the case. An archbishop is equivalent to a bishop in...
Bishop of Trier, in the
Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 federal states of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz....
, is the oldest
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
in
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. The edifice is notable for its extremely long life span under multiple different eras each contributing some elements to its design, including the center of the main chapel being made of Roman brick laid under the direction of
Saint HelenSaint Helena also known as Saint Helen, Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople was the consort of Emperor Constantius, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I. She is traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross.-Family life:Helena's birthplace is not known with certainty...
, resulting in a cathedral added on to gradually rather than rebuilt in different eras. Its dimensions, 112.5 by 41 m, make it the largest church structure in Trier. Since 1986 it has been on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
History
The structure is raised upon the foundations of Roman buildings of
Augusta TreverorumTrier in Rhineland-Palatinate, whose history dates to the Roman Empire, is often claimed to be the oldest city in Germany.- Prehistory :The first traces of human settlement in the area of the city show evidence of linear pottery settlements dating from the early Neolithic period.Since the last...
. Following the conversion of the Emperor Constantine the Bishop
Maximin of TrierSaint Maximin was the fifth bishop of Trier, according to the list provided by the diocese's website, taking his seat in 341/342...
(329-346) coordinated the construction of the grandest ensemble of ecclesiastical structures in the West outside Rome: on a groundplan four times the area of the present cathedral no less than four
basilicaThe Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building , usually located in the forum of a Roman town. In Hellenistic cities, public basilicas appeared in the 2nd century BC.Basilicas were also used for religious purposes...
s, a
baptisteryIn Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistery may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...
and outbuildings were constructed; the four piers of the crossing formed the nucleus of the present structure.
The fourth century structure was left in ruins by the
FranksThe Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul...
and rebuilt.
NormansThe Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
destroyed the structure again in 882. Under Bishop Egbert the
Dom was restored once more. The West front in five symmetrical sections remains typical of
Romanesque architectureRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe, characterised by semi-circular arches, and evolving into the Gothic style, characterised by pointed arches, beginning in the 12th century...
under the Salian emperors. The West end choir, with its
apsidalthumb|250px|Triple apse of [[Basilica di Santa Giulia]], northern [[Italy]].In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
semi-cylinder expressed on the exterior façade, was completed in 1196. The interior is of three Romanesque
naveIn Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
s with Gothic vaulting, and a Baroque chapel for the relic of the
Seamless robe of JesusThe Seamless Robe of Jesus is the robe said to have been worn by Jesus during his crucifixion....
, recovered from the interior of the high altar in 1512, complete the interior.
Burials
- Bohemond II (Archbishop of Trier)
- Baldwin (Archbishop of Trier)
- Henry I (Archbishop of Trier)
- Udo (Archbishop of Trier)
- Franz Georg von Schönborn-Buchheim
Franz Georg von Schönborn-Buchheim was the Archbishop of Trier from 1729 until 1756, and the Bishop of Worms and Provost of Ellwangen from 1732 until 1756.-Biography:...
External links