Hauptmarkt (Main Market Square), Trier

Hauptmarkt (Main Market Square), Trier (must see)

Main Market Square is the Trier's central square and one of its largest squares. Main Market Square has been a marketplace since the 10th century. Trier's main shopping streets meet here, and the square features many historic and landmark buildings.

Archbishop Heinrich I installed a cross in Main Market Square in 958. This ancient cross is one of Europe's oldest market crosses. It stands on an ancient Roman pillar, which served as a pillory. Visitors can see four holes where chains would have been attached to punish and humiliate law-breaking citizens publicly.

The cross features a Latin inscription, an image of the Lamb of God, and a victory banner. The sides of the cross have a sundial and a depiction of Saint Peter. The market cross is a replica, and the original cross is on display at the Simeonstift Municipal Museum.

The Petrusbrunnen fountain was created in 1594 by sculptor Hans Ruprecht Hoffman. A statue of Saint Peter stands at the top of the fountain, and representations of virtues stand around the fountain's base. The statues represent Fortitude, Temperance, Justice, and Wisdom. At the beginning of the Old Town Festival, residents add decorative lighting and a flower bouquet to the Saint Peter statue to ensure good holiday weather.

Main Market Square features historic houses from Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods, including the Steipe and Red Houses.

Visitors can access the Church of Saint Gangolf through the square. In addition, the square is an entrance point to the city's former Jewish quarter.

Main Market Square hosts several events and festivals throughout the year. For example, visitors might catch the Street Festival, the Old Town Festival, the Christmas Market, a New Year's Run, or the Corpus Christi Procession.

Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Trier. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "GPSmyCity: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.

Download The GPSmyCity App

Hauptmarkt (Main Market Square) on Map

Sight Name: Hauptmarkt (Main Market Square)
Sight Location: Trier, Germany (See walking tours in Trier)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:

Walking Tours in Trier, Germany

Create Your Own Walk in Trier

Create Your Own Walk in Trier

Creating your own self-guided walk in Trier is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Trier Introduction Walking Tour

Trier Introduction Walking Tour

Trier is Germany’s oldest city and features beautiful Roman ruins, impressive medieval architecture, stunning churches, and fascinating museums.

While an inscription on the famous Red House states that the city was founded 1300 years before the Romans arrived, this has never been proven. The Celtics originally founded Trier during the fourth century BC. The Romans arrived in the first century...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.4 Km or 2.1 Miles
In The Footsteps of Karl Marx

In The Footsteps of Karl Marx

Apart from being a home to the largest number of Roman ruins outside Rome, Trier is also extremely popular with international tourists, especially those from China, as the hometown of Karl Marx.

Here, the father of socialism and one of the most important philosophers of the 19th century, who, as an adult, managed to change the course of the world's history, had spent the first 17 years of...  view more

Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 1.8 Km or 1.1 Miles
Trier's Roman Ruins Walking Tour

Trier's Roman Ruins Walking Tour

Nowadays it sounds a bit weird that a small German town of Trier, some 20-minute drive from the Luxembourg border, was once the capital of the mighty Western Roman Empire. Still, "the second Rome", as the emperor Diocletian used to call it, today fully lives up to its former status.

Founded in 15 BC by the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus, this oldest city in Germany is a home to the...  view more

Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 4.9 Km or 3 Miles