The sun came out...

And when it did, we got outside! 

Friday was a holiday and we took a little trip to the city of Speyer, about an hour away. We are studying medieval history, moving into the Renaissance and the Reformation. There is so much to see here in person-there's no way we can just let all our learning be from books! 

Speyer was an important city during the Reformation, but even before that it was important religiously. It was a Roman camp as early as 10 B.C. and later it had a large Jewish population (wiped out by the Plague and again during the Holocaust). 

The Speyer Cathedral was consecrated in 1061 and is a sister-church to the cathedrals in Mainz and Worms, built in the Romanesque architecture. 8 German kings and holy Roman emperors and several wives and children and entombed there. It was quite a sight.

I didn't find it as pretty as the cathedral in Mainz, but it was larger-and the tombs underneath were very cool. 

We headed back out to the sunshine 

and wandered over to the Dreifaltigkeitakirche (Holy Trinity Church) a block away. It was much smaller, but much more beautiful. We had a lovely, albeit somewhat halting, conversation with the caretaker, who spoke very little English, but obviously loves that church and loves telling people about it.

The church is worried about vandalism (the interior is almost all wood) and thus is only open for visitors limited hours, so we felt thankful to be there at the right time! It was built around 1700. The ceiling is beautiful and the balconies are painted with scenes from the Bible-New Testament on the top balcony and Old Testament on the bottom, with the Scripture references added. This was because much of the congregation did not read at the time so the preacher could point to the paintings while he preached. 

We then wandered down the Platz til we came to the last remaining gate to the city. In the 13th century the entire city was walled in, but now the last of the 68 gates sits alone in the middle of town. 

Speyer used to have it's very own measurement standard-the "Calibration shoe of Speyer." We plan to go back later when we can go inside the gate and check that shoe out! 

We ended the afternoon at a Bäckerei as all good outings end

and headed back to the car by way of the "spider park."