Explorations of a German city layered in history, with surprisingly gorgeous churches.
Mainz lies on the Rhine River in mid-western Germany. The city started its life as an Ancient Roman legionnaire base, Mogontiacum, in the 1st century CE. Mogontiacum later became the capital of the Roman province of Germania Superior. The Franks moved in in the 5th century and it became an important city of the Holy Roman Empire in the 8th. An archbishop ruled the city, and much of the surrounding area, until hostilities broke out in 1792. The Old Town was severely damaged during WWII. However, thankfully, many buildings were rebuilt.
In short, Mainz has a very long and complicated history. I decided to visit Mainz after watching a documentary on Romanesque churches. It featured two churches in Mainz, along with the cathedral in Speyer. Due to construction on the S-Bahn from Frankfurt, I got off at the station across the Rhine from Mainz. After a long walk over the Rhine, I made my way into the Old Town of Mainz.
The Rhine is a very wide river.
Jana Irving Karmeliterkirche, a monastery church. Not sure if it still is a monastery.
Jana Irving The local sandstone was used a lot in the construction in Mainz.
Jana Irving St. Christoph was built between 1240-1330. The famed printer Johannes Gutenberg was baptized here around 1400. It was damaged during WWII and now serves as a memorial.
Jana Irving A mostly painted building to make it look more sandstoney. I love it.
Jana Irving A shopping gallery and the cathedral behind. The cathedral is surrounded by other buildings on most of its sides.
Exactly opposite of the last photo is Johanniskirche, Mainz’s old cathedral and its oldest church. Construction started on the church back in the 7th century, making it one of the few Carolingian churches still standing (see Aachen Cathedral). The interior of the church has been a construction site for a while. In order to replace the underfloor heating system, archaeological excavations had to take place. It started in 2013 and it’s still ongoing because they keep finding cool stuff. They have found parts of a Roman buildings, including a roof from one that collapsed and sarcophagi from the early-medieval period.
Johanniskirch, perpetually a construction site forever.
Jana Irving You can see one of the open sarcophagi in the bottom of the photo. The church is only open a short bit each week, but luckily, they have viewing windows from the outside.
The Old Town is kind of cute.
Jana Irving Very cute, in fact.
I like this one.
Jana Irving I’m a sucker for half-timbered buildings, even if they were rebuilt after WWII.
Jana Irving Back at the Cathedral, a restored but gorgeous Romanesque doorway.
Jana Irving Like the Cathedral of Trier, there is an apse at the main entrance.
Jana Irving Turn around for the rest of the cathedral. It’s very similar to the one in Speyer.
Jana Irving I got distracted and ended up in the cloister.
Jana Irving It’s a two story cloister!
The church originally just had the rounded windows on the top layer. Gothic windows along the bottom were later added.
Jana Irving Those tall, round towers seem to be popular in the area.
Jana Irving Back in the cathedral. The paintings are modern.
Jana Irving In one of the Gothic chapels with those giant, Gothic windows.
Jana Irving I love this door.
Jana Irving Gorgeous.
Jana Irving Marktplatz am Dom. I was not kidding when I said the cathedral is mostly surrounded by other buildings. This used to be common in the medieval period, but those buildings typically don’t remain.
Jana Irving Except for this side.
Jana Irving A gorgeous building near the cathedral.
Jana Irving Back to the Marktplatz, opposite the cathedral.
Jana Irving A very stunning cathedral.
Jana Irving Augustinerkirche, an absolutely gorgeous Rococo church from the 18th century.
Jana Irving Love this.
Jana Irving Holzturm, one of the towers from the old city walls.
Jana Irving St. Ignaz, a gorgeous Baroque church.
Jana Irving Gorgeous, isn’t it?
Jana Irving I next headed up to the 17th century citadel.
Jana Irving The citadel shared the hill with the Ancient Roman theater.
Jana Irving Drususstein, an Ancient Roman cenotaph that was erected in 9 BCE by soldiers in the memory of the general Druses. It was originally clad in marble.
Jana Irving Osteiner Hof on Schillerplatz.
Jana Irving More pretty.
Jana Irving Peterskirche, even more Rococo.
Jana Irving The churches in this town are amazing.
Jana Irving Just stunning.
Jana Irving Kurfürstliches Schloss, a Renaissance palace belonging to the Archbishop of Mainz.
Jana Irving Christuskirche, a protestant church from around 1900. It had to be restored after WWII and they made some choices in the interior. They weren’t good ones.
Mainz is one of the cities I visited on this trip that I wish I had more time in. I only ever made it into one small museum of Roman ruins, but there are quite a few in Mainz that looked interesting, like the Gutenberg Museum. There is another city nearby, Wiesbaden, that looked like it had quite a bit to see as well.
Check out my next update where I explore the German city of Cologne!
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Start at the beginning of this European adventure!
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