Porta Nigra

The Black Gate — largest surviving Roman city gate north of the Alps

The Porta Nigra is Trier's most recognisable landmark: a four-storey Roman city gate dating from the late 2nd century, built from massive sandstone blocks held together by iron clamps rather than mortar. It is the largest and best-preserved Roman gate north of the Alps, and the sight of it looming over the modern city is genuinely arresting.

The gate was built as part of Trier's Roman city wall but was never fully finished — work stopped, possibly because the city's defences were no longer needed. The stone surfaces still bear the mason's marks left by Roman workers. Inside, you can climb to the upper levels for views over the city and the Moselle valley.

The Simeonstift (now the Stadtmuseum) adjoins the gate on the south side. The gate itself is free to walk past; a small fee applies to enter the interior.

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A story
The gate gets its name (Latin for "black gate") from the dark patina the sandstone acquired over the centuries. But it was not always a gate: in the 11th century a Syrian monk named Simeon walled himself inside the gate tower as a hermit and lived there until his death in 1035. He was canonised shortly afterwards, and the gate was converted into a church in his honour — the Romanesque apse built into the eastern tower still survives.