The city of Trier

Nearby is the town's archaeological museum, clearly Trier's top museum, with arguably the best collection of Roman art in Germany. The museum tells the town's story from prehistoric times to today. The best pieces are all from the Roman period, including funeral art, mosaics, coins, and a fine model of Roman Trier.

The museum's collection seems to be largely made up of anything old that turned up in townspeople's basements, and most of the items on display are only mildly interesting. However, the third floor holds a fascinating model — painstakingly constructed over 19 years — of Trier as it looked in 1800.

Trier's main pedestrian drag, which leads away from the gate, is named for St. Simeon. The arcaded courtyard and buildings of the monastery of St. Simeon remain, and are now home to the tourist information office and the slick City Museum (Stadtmuseum Simeonstift)

Today Trier's Roman sights include baths, a 25,000-seat amphitheater, and a huge city gate. Of the original four gates, only the Porta Nigra survives. This most impressive Roman fortification in Germany was built without mortar — only iron pegs hold the sandstone blocks together.

Founded by Augustus in 15 BC, Trier was the Roman "Augusta Treverorum" for 500 years. For most of the fourth century, this city of 80,000 — with a four-mile-long wall, four great gates, and 47 round towers — was the favored residence of Roman emperors. Emperor Constantine used the town as the capital of his fading western Roman Empire.

Trier, Germany's oldest city, lies at the head of the scenic Mosel Valley near the Luxembourg border. An ancient Roman capital, Trier brags that it was inhabited for 1,300 years before the Romans arrived. Today Trier feels young and thriving. A short stop here offers you a look at Germany's oldest Christian church, one of its most enjoyable market squares, and its best Roman ruins.