The construction of St Peter's Cathedral in Trier, the oldest church in Germany and one of the best examples of the Romanesque style, began in 326 on the orders of the first Christian emperor Constantine. The structure was based on part of the palace of his mother, St Queen Helena, which she had given to the Trier bishop Maximinus.
In 882 the building was almost completely destroyed by Norman tribes, but by 1196 it was rebuilt in its former style. In the 18th century, the episcopate decided to add Baroque elements to the austere interior decoration. A finely carved altar and a relief altarpiece were created. Like other buildings in the centre of Trier, St. Peter's Cathedral was severely damaged by the bombing raids of the Second World War. After restoration in the 60s and 70s, the altar of the cathedral was re-consecrated on 1 May 1974.
The reliquary of the cathedral houses one of the main relics of the Christian world, the chiton of Jesus Christ, which was received by lot by one of the guards before his crucifixion. The first public worship of the relic took place in 1512 (until that time the relic was carefully hidden in the cathedral from fires, wars and looting) and since then it has been exposed for access to pilgrims 16 times. The cathedral also contains the ark with the head of St Helen, several links of the chain with which the Apostle Peter was bound, and the nail and sandal of St Andrew..
In 1986, St Peter's Cathedral in Trier was inscribed on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites of Humanity.
