Porta Alba

The Porta Alba ( Latin for White Gate ) was a city ​​gate of the Roman city wall of Trier . The name comes from the Middle Ages. The gate was popularly called “Wisport”. It stood in today's district of Trier-Heiligkreuz , on Rotbachstraße, near the confluence with Arnulfstraße.

Edification

From 170 AD, Roman Trier ( Augusta Treverorum ) received a city wall with four huge archways: the Porta Nigra in the north, the Porta Media in the south, the Porta Inclyta in the west (at the Roman bridge ) and the amphitheater in the east . In the late 4th century, to relieve the amphitheater, the Porta Alba was added to the city wall as another gate castle in today's Heiligkreuz.

The Porta Alba was similar to the other gate castles in Trier. The most striking difference was that it only had one archway and was therefore much narrower. Whether it corresponded to the Porta Nigra in terms of height and number of floors can no longer be traced archaeologically, but according to medieval sources it is very likely.

middle Ages

Around the year 400 the emperor and court as well as most of the residents left the formerly flourishing Roman city, which was exposed to ever more violent Germanic attacks. Around 800 the city consisted only of isolated settlements, monasteries and the cathedral district. The Roman city wall had become useless and was left to decay.

The Porta Alba served as a protective castle around this time. Around the year 1000, the robber baron Adelbert lived in it, who repeatedly started raids on the fortified cathedral district and was defeated by a ruse in the style of the Trojan horse . Archbishop Folmar von Karden (1183–1189) also lived in the Torburg for a short time . It is also mentioned that the Archbishop Albero von Montreuil (1080-1152) moved in through the gate on arrival in his new official residence in Trier.

The last mention of the gate comes from the 13th century; like many other Roman buildings, including all the city gates except for the Porta Nigra, the Porta Alba also served as a quarry.

Modern times

At times Heiligkreuz was called "Wisport" after the unforgettable gate. The huge foundations of the gate were discovered in 1896 and 1930. Today in Heiligkreuz a street called "Wisportstraße" reminds of the gate.

Web links

• Entry on Former Porta Alba (Trier) in the database of cultural assets in the Trier region .
• Entry by Christoph Jürgens on Porta Alba (“White Gate”, “Wisport”) in the “ KuLaDig ” database of the Rhineland Regional Association

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Karen Allihn: The Porta Nigra is really that old. In: faz.net. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, January 12, 2018, accessed on January 13, 2018 . 

Coordinates: 49 ° 44 ′ 30.2 "  N , 6 ° 38 ′ 28.1"  E