athedral of St. Pierre et Ste. Helene is
the chief.

At one time the _Augusta Trevirorum_ of the Romans was "the richest, the
most fortunate, the most glorious, and the most eminent of all the
cities north of the Alps," said an enthusiastic local historian.

The claim may be disputed by another whose civic pride lies elsewhere,
but all know that Treves, as the flourishing capital of the _Gaulois
belges_, actually rivalled Rome itself.

Augustus established a Roman colony here with its own Senate, and many
of the Roman emperors of the long line which followed made it their
residence during their sojourn in the north.

From the Augusta Trevirorum of the Romans, the city became in time,
under the later Empire, Treviri, from which the present nomenclature of
Treves and Trier comes. It was one of the sixty great towns which were
taken from the Romans by the Franks and the Alemanni.

The Roman bridge over the Moselle, built probably by Agrippa, existed
until the wars of Louis XIV., in 1669, when it was blown up; and all
that now remains of the original work are the foundations of the piers,
which were built upon anew in the eighteenth century.

As a bishopric, and later as an archbishopric, the see is the most
ancient in Germany, having been founded in 327 by the Empress Helene.

In the twelfth century it became an archbishopric and an electorate, but
during the fourteenth century, because of continual struggles between
the municipality and the Church, the archbishops removed to Coblenz.

In the cathedral rests the Holy Coat of Treves, one of the most sacred
relics of the Saviour extant, and supposedly the veritable garment worn
by him at the crucifixion,--the seamless garment for which the soldiers
cast lots (John xix. 23, 24).

When exposed to public view, which ceremony used to take place only once
in thirty years, the holy robe is placed upon the high altar, which has
previously been dressed for the occasion. The altar is approached by
many steps on each side, and there are several steps at intervals in the
aisles, so that the appearance of the long line of pilgrims on their way
down the side aisles and up to the altar is most picturesque. As many as
twenty thousand pilgrims are said to have paid their devotions to this
relic in a single day. They come in processions of hundreds, and
sometimes thousands; and are of all classes, but mostly peasants. The
lame, the blind, and the sick are included in their ranks, an