Today was spent exploring Trier Germany. It is the oldest city in Germany and after what we experienced today, I hope to tell you a little bit about why. The day began with a continental breakfast at our hotel. Definitely better than Sodexo, but most food services are better than Sodexo, just trying to give a comparison. From there we took the bus into the main part of the city. We were lucky enough to have a guided tour of the Rhineland Museum and then the city. Our tour guide was an elderly woman who spoke pretty good English. She was doing everything possible to give us the best experience possible.
Some things we learned during the museum tour was that Trier was at one point captured by the Romans and under their control. At that time is when it was really built up and fortified. It runs along the Moselle river and is considered to be in the land of the Rhine and is therefore known for its wine. The city is home to an Arch Bishop Electorate and especially in its founding, this was very important for the city and is the reason for some of the structures that are present but also how they were built, ie. the architecture and details of the churches and buildings. Following the museum tour, we were taken outside through the streets of the city with our tour guide to see some of the things we had just talked about, as well as many others. The city is home to Constantine's Basilica which is a 67m long emperors thrown hall (Constantine) but is now used as a Protestant church. The basilica was built in the 3rd century, would you believe me if I told you it had heated floors and heated walls? Something that not all houses have today, was fully installed in this huge structure and heated the entire place. The Romans were smart enough to build fire/coal wells along the outside of the basilica and then use different materials adjacent to the heat source to allow for heat flow. On top of those bricks and other materials that could maintain heat was the marble floors and walls, constantly being heated by those fires and coal deposits. Another place was the St. Peters Cathedral. This cathedral was explained in parts, as it was built in parts over the last 1500 years. It was an amazing structure of ridiculous detail and expertise. We were actually there just after a new priest was ordained and there was a pretty elaborate church bell playing for it, which was different. Considering that Trier is home to a bishop, there is actually two church halls in this cathedral, one for everyday church goings and then another, specifically for the Bishop and services that only he could put on.
We saw many more things in this city, too much to write about. Below are some pictures of the some of the things we saw with the best I can captions to explain. The power of the Roman Empire is still something that I and the other students really cant fathom. They referred to the Mediterranean Sea as a lake and were able to govern nearly all of Europe, without the technologies that we have today. To talk about their engineering abilities, just look at the pictures. They were able to build everything that we can today, by hand, without the advanced tools we have. The only difference between now and then is the time rate in which the job gets done. Every piece of stone used to build Constantine's Basilica was hand cut and hand placed. The earth in the amphitheater was all moved by hand and then every brick was cut and laid, by hand. It is work that again, is just unimaginable to us today, but is extremely relevant right now as we just spent two days among it, in buildings that were built thousands of years ago.
This is a photo of the amphitheater, the Saturday night attraction back in the golden days of Trier. When digging out the soil, they would then build up the east side, sounds pretty simple but I thought it was pretty smart. Why make more work?
This is Constantine's Basilica. It was made by hand, every brick, every bit of mortar. Every piece of marble was cut by hand and placed by hand. The heated walls and floors really make me say, "Wow", they were adding features to their buildings that not all buildings have today.
This is a display from the museum of how they made their bridges, each phase of the construction and how the joined each section. Again, the capabilities are something else.
This is the outside of the St. Peters Cathedral. The shear mass and detail must be noted.
This is a photo of the organ inside the cathedral. It is hanging from the side of the wall and has over 5600 pipes, producing a very clean and organic sound.
This is a controversial statue of Karl Marks. If you don't know the history of this man, give him a search and you'll see why this is controversial. He was born in Trier.
This is Kurfurstliches Palais which was the electoral palace.
About the Author:
Andrew Ciccarino is an experienced e-blogger (1 other post) who hails from Scotch Plains, New Jersey. He studies civil engineering and did not do well in his English classes freshman year.
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