TREVES, trēvz (Ger. Trier). A city of Prussia, in the Rhine Province, on the right bank of the Moselle, 69 miles southwest of Coblenz (Map: Germany, B 4). It is situated in a region of hills, vineyards, and woods, and presents a picturesque appearance. The town lies in a compact form, surrounded on three sides by promenades called allées. In the old city proper the streets are narrow and crooked. On the north is the Porta Nigra, an ancient fortified gate with towers — a splendid Roman relic. In the northeastern part of the city stands the cathedral, one of the oldest churches in Europe. The ancient edifice on whose site it stands appears to have been used as a church already in Roman times. The building has been repeatedly restored as the result of wars and the ravages of centuries. Among its contents are an alleged nail from the cross, and the famous seamless ‘Holy Coat,’ which is exposed to view at stated, though not frequent, times. There are fine cloisters leading to the charming Liebfrauenkirche — an early Gothic structure belonging to the first half of the thirteenth century.
In the southeastern part of Treves is the spacious Palace Square, at the north end of which stands a brick basilica dating probably from the commencement of the fourth century, now used as a Protestant church. At the south end of the square rises the Roman palace, a picturesque mass of ruins. The valuable provincial museum is near by. Among its remarkable antiquities are 60 hermæ, torsos of Cupid and of an amazon, a mosaic credited to Monnus, and the Roman tombs from Neumagen, dating from the commencement of the Christian Era and representing the costumes and daily life in this region at that period. A short distance southeast of the city is a Roman amphitheatre, built in Trajan's time. In the southwestern part of Treves, close to the Moselle, are the Roman baths — a vast and impressive ruin. Two miles to the west, on a hill, rises the Column of the Virgin, commemorating the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
The municipal library, containing over 100,000 volumes and manuscripts, is connected with the gymnasium, and possesses rare works of ancient date. Among them is the illuminated Codex Egberti, dating from the close of the tenth century. There are also the Codex Aureus and the Fust and Gutenberg Bible of 1450. The manufacturing interests are varied and important. There are tanneries, iron foundries, dye works, furniture and piano factories, glass painting works, etc. The trade is extensive in wine, fruit, and wood. The town possesses a school of viticulture. There are many mines in the vicinity, including lead, copper, and tin mines. The population in 1900 was 43,324.
History. Treves is usually considered the most ancient town of Germany. It was the capital of the Celtic Treviri, from whom it took its name (anciently Augusta Trevirorum). The Romans made it a colony and it grew in importance. It was an Imperial residence in the later times of the Roman Empire, which explains the presence of the magnificent Roman relics. Treves had a bishop at a very early date. It fell into the hands of the Franks in the fifth century. The see appears to have been erected into an archbishopric about the beginning of the ninth century. About a century later the city, after having for a time belonged to Lorraine, was permanently united with Germany. It rose to great importance under its archbishops, who exercised temporal sway over a considerable district, and who held a place among the Imperial Electors. After a long struggle with its ecclesiastical overlords, Treves was recognized as a free city toward the close of the sixteenth century. The French took Treves in 1794, and within a few years nearly the whole of the archiepiscopal see was in their possession. The archbishopric was abolished. The Congress of Vienna (1814-15) handed the city and the former see over to Prussia. Consult: Wilmowski, Der Dom zu Trier (Treves, 1874); Freeman, Historical and Architectural Sketches (London, 1876); Woerl, Führer durch die Stadt Trier (Würzburg, 1887).