The St. Simeon’s Collegiate Church erman: ''Simeonstift''was a

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a ...

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, near the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

city gate of the

Porta Nigra The Porta Nigra (Latin for ''black gate'') is a large Roman city gate in Trier, Germany. It is today the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps. It was designated as part of the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in ...

atin, “Black Gate” Named after the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

monk, St. Simeon of Trier, it is now a city museum in the former collegiate church’s buildings under the name, ''Stadtmuseum Simeonstift'' ity Museum of the Simeonstift The church was created in 1037. In 1028 Simeon of Trier settled at the Porta Nigra as a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

. He was supposed to have walled himself up there at the gate’s east tower. After his death on 1 June 1035, he was buried in his room on the ground floor. In the same year, probably for Christmas, he was canonized by

Pope Benedict IX Pope Benedict IX ( la, Benedictus IX; c. 1012 – c. 1056), born Theophylactus of Tusculum in Rome, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States on three occasions between October 1032 and July 1048. Aged approximately 20 at his first ele ...

, in one of the first

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

s ever made by a Pope. In honor of the new saint, they built the ''Simeonstift'' and converted the former tower to a ''Doppelkirche'' erman, “twin church” The Archbishop of Trier at that time, Poppo von Babenberg, personally had known the hermit and travelled with him. But a certificate of incorporation of the ''Simeonstift'' could not be obtained from him and it was probably never given. However, recent research showed that the church was founded soon after the canonization of Simeon. The ''Simeonstift'' was a two-story cloister in four wings with a dormitory in the north wing and a refectory in the west wing. According to the dendrochronological findings, the north wing dates from 1040. The first reliable documentation is a document of 1048, which proves the existence of a provost’s office and therefore the existence of a collegiate church’s charter.

Emperor Henry IV Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son ...

in 1098 confirmed all his possessions to the Simeonstift and granted, namely, more than sixty properties and privileges to it.(de) Heinrich Beyer
''Mittelrheinisches Urkundenbuch''
ook of the Middle Rhine Records Volume 1, page 452, Document No. 397 The ''doppelkirche'' conversion of the Porta Nigra was reversed more than 750 years later, in 1804, by the order of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. Since then, the city gate has reverted almost to its original Gallo-Roman condition. Only the Romanesque east side of the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

still testifies from the outside to the fact that the Porta Nigra was once an imposing church.

References

External links

* (de, fr
Official Website of the Museum Simeonstift Trier
* {{coord, 49, 45, 35, N, 6, 38, 36, E, region:DE-RP_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Buildings and structures in Trier Museums in Trier Religion in Trier