Roman Monuments, Cathedral and Church of Our Lady in Trier

ANTE ROMAM TREVERIS STETIT ANNIS MILLETRECENTIS – ‘Trier stood one thousand and three hundred years before Rome’ claims the inscriptionon the Red House on Hauptmarkt square.

Although this is an invention of the Middle Ages, it does have some historical background. There were indeed already settlements in the Trier valley in the 3rd century BC, and Trier was the first one north of the Alps that could justifiably be called a ‘town’. Trier was founded around 16 BC by the Romans under Emperor Augustusas ‘Augusta Treverorum’ near to a holy site of the Celtic Treveri tribe. World-renowned architectural monuments and art treasures area reminder of the town’s fascinating history, which spans more than 2,000 years. Trier is not only a place of antiquities, however, and it is precisely this harmonious coexistence of old and new that gives the town its special charm.