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=Trier Cathedral=

The Trier Cathedral is richly historic. It was originally built by Constantine, and then refurbished in the Romanesque style hundreds of years later. It is the oldest cathedral in Germany, being 1,682 years old, and one of the first Christian churches built their (sacred- destinations.com). The cathedral also claims to have many important artifacts of the Christian religion held in its treasury, such as the Holy Robe and the Holy Nail.

History
Trier Cathedral, also known as Dom St. Peter, is located in Trier, Germany. This city fits well with having the oldest cathedral in Germany because it is one of the oldest cities in Germany (en.wikipedia.org). In the late 100s CE Christianity first came to Trier. Legend has it that it was brought there by a bishop sent by St.Peter, hence the name Dom St.Peter (sacred- destinations.com). From then on the Christian religion would play a major role in the direction of this city. In the year 313 CE, Constantine, the first Christian emperor of Rome, ordered tolerance for th Christian religion in the Roman Empire (en.wikipedia.org). Over twenty years later in the year 326 CE, while Constantine celebrated his rule, he ordered the construction of a large cathedral in the city of Trier. It was built over the palace of his mother Helena (sacred- destinations.com). This cathedral stood where Dom St.Peter stands today but was four times larger. The cathedral was used for worship for many years until it was almost completely destroyed by the Franks in the 5th century and then by the Norman’s in the 9th century. During these times in history, the city of Trier was taken from the Roman Empire and converted to the religions of the conquers. It was not until the year 1035 CE that the cathedral was remade under the order of Bishop Egbert. Dom St.Peter was made directly over part of the original structure so some of the walls still contain roman brick. Once Dom St.Peter was remade, it was reopened to the public and is still in use today (en.wikipedia.org).

Holy Artifacts[[image:CDJ4.jpg width="207" height="224" align="left"]]
Pilgrims from all over the globe travel to visit Dom St.Peter. They come to see the many important artifacts that the cathedral holds in its possession. The most famous of these artifacts are the Holy Robe and the Holy Nail (sacred- destinations.com). The Holy Robe is a seamless garment that is believed to have been worn by Jesus during his crucifixion. It was brought to Dom St.Peter in 1512 and was shown for 23 days after. During that time 100,000 pilgrims came to see the robe. It is now sealed in a shrine on display in the cathedral. The Holy Nail is believed to have been one of the nails used to crucify Jesus. Dom St.Peter holds many other important relics to the Christian religion which are held in Trier Cathedral Treasury (sacred- destinations.com). These artifacts keep a steady stream of pilgrims visiting the cathedral throughout the year.

Architecture
After Dom St.Peter was remade in 1035, it was built in the most popular architectural style of the time, Romanesque. Romanesque architecture is a style of architecture that copies roman architecture, but wasn't made by romans. The basic structure of Dom St.Peter is still in this style. From a plan view the Cathedral is laid out as a basilica, in the shape of a Latin cross. This structural design was developed during the Romanesque architectural era. The length of the nave, the main hall of the basilica, is 112.5 meters and the length of the transept, the section intercepting the nave at a 90º angle, is 41 meters, making it the largest church structure in Trier (en.wikipedia.org). Attached to the cross there are six towers. The artistic design on the outside of the cathedral is also very Romanesque. If a building is "Romanesque" it means that it is a stone structure that has the appearance of being heavy. The design of a Romanesque building isn't carved stone, the stone itself is the design. For instance, in the bottom left hand corner of image 2, different colored blocks are used for an esthetic touch, and on the apse in image 2 some blocks protrude out from the rest of the building giving an artistic affect. Another Romanesque aspect of the exterior of Dom St.Peter is the use of arches. The romans invented the arch. Arches were superior to past door and window structures because they could support more weight, allowing them to be used in larger structures (en.wikipedia.org). Since the arch is a symbol of roman architecture, they are always used in Romanesque building. Although most of the outside of Dom St.Peter is Romanesque some of the design on the towers comes from later architectural styles, since the towers were added after the original structure. This can be seen in the pointed arches and carved designs used in the windows in the upper right hand corner of image 2, which comes from Gothic architecture (en.wikipedia.org). The interior of Dom St.Peter was originally designed in the Romanesque style. However, In the 13th century it was redesigned using Gothic and Baroque architecture (en.wikipedia.org). Dom St.Peter has three naves and two apses, a semicircular niche. One apse is at the narthex, the entrance to a cathedral usually found at the beginning of the nave, and another at the opposite end at the high altar, where the priest would stand. (sacred- destinations.com). The artistic design is mostly in the Baroque style, as seen in image 3. Most of the design is of religious images, typical of Baroque architecture. The vaulting and the archways inside the cathedral are in the Gothic design (sacred- destinations.com). As seen in the top of image 4, rib vaulting was used in Dom St.Peter. The combination of these three architectural styles, and the roman brick that is still visible, displays the amount of time, as well as history, Dom St.Peter has stood through.

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