Hauptmarkt, market square in Trier, Germany

Hauptmarkt is Trier's central square, paved with reddish-grey cobblestones in fan-shaped patterns. In the middle stand market stalls, including one with a red-and-white striped awning reading "Lose hier Stadt - Tombola Trier". The square is framed by buildings such as a white gabled house with a steep dark roof, a flat-roofed white building, and a pale yellow building with an orange-and-white awning.

In 958 Archbishop Heinrich I gave the market its cross, a symbol of market rights and jurisdiction; the Latin inscription on the 3-metre shaft reads "Henricus archiepiscopus Treverensis me erexit". The cross stands on a Roman column used as a pillory from 1200, with four holes still visible where chains and iron collars were fixed. The original cross has been shown in the Städtisches Museum Simeonstift since 1964.

The market cross is a copy; the original, probably the oldest medieval market cross in Europe, has been shown in the Städtisches Museum Simeonstift since 1964. The column beneath it served from 1200 as a pillory, and four holes for chains and an iron collar are still visible. Each year at the start of the Altstadtfest, a bouquet is attached to the St. Peter figure on the Petrusbrunnen to ask for good weather.

The square sits near bus stops and is easy to reach by public transport. You will find restaurants, cafes, and shops surrounding the plaza where you can stop for food or shopping.

The market cross on the square is a copy; the medieval original, probably the oldest surviving market cross in Europe, has been shown in the Städtisches Museum Simeonstift since 1964. The Roman column beneath it served from 1200 as a pillory, and four drilled holes for chains, shackles and a shaming stone can still be seen.