MAINZ ALTSTADT - THE OLD TOWN



The Old Town has many nice historic buildings in different styles, but unfortunately some ugly grey 60s modernist buildings have been built on too many

places. The heart of Altstadt is very cozy with its square, cathedral and alleys though. The city center is partly hilly.





The Schiller statue at Schillerplatz. Friedrich Schiller was a German poet, philosofer, historican and playwright in the 18th-19th centuries, friend with Goethe.





Ostheimer Hof at Schillerplatz, a very nice place to sit and relax.










The Fastnachtsbrunnen (Carneval Fountain) at Schillerplatz was built in 1967 by Blasius Spreng. It is 8.5m high and is made of bronze. It has about 200 symbols of

grotesque fantasy figures of the Mainz Fastnacht.









Bassenheimer Hof seen from Schillerplatz.









Ludwigsstrasse, that leads to the cathedral from Schillerplatz, has too many grey modernist buildings.






The curvy Gaustrasse.





Church of St-Stephan is a gothic hall collegiate church. The current church dates back to 1340.


































Holzhof at Weissliliengasse. Some kind of palace with a garden.













St Ignaz, a baroque church.






Holzturm (wood tower), a tower at the former wood market from the 14th century.





Augustinerstrasse, the beautiful main street of Altstadt, the Old Town.






















Augustinerkirche (St Augustine's Church) is a splendid rococo church, unfortunately closed when I was there. It is located on the narrow Augustinerstrasse. The current

church was completed in 1772.





Kirschgarten. Nice half-timbered houses at the northern end of Augustinerstrasse.









Kirschgarten, "cherry street", is a small alley that probably got its name from the cherry trees.










Towards the Dom.
Marktplatz, or Domplatz, is the square in the heart of historical Mainz where the Dom (cathedral) and Gutenberg museum is located. It has an impressive collection of beautifully decorated buildings and sculptures.





Mainz Cathedral of St Martin, or simply the Dom, is the heart of historical Mainz and the city's foremost landmark. This 1000 year old church was built predomantly in Romanesque style.






























Marktplatz is the square where the Dom is located. It has many beautiful historical buildings.






























Mainz Cathedral of St Martin from the square Marktplatz. It is a Roman Catholic cathedral.









Gutenbergplatz, next to Marktplatz. To the left is the Gutenberg Museum.





Gutenberg Museum. The first European books printed using movable type were manufactured in Mainz by Johann Gutenberg in the early 1450s.










Ludwigsstrasse seen from Marktplatz.


NORTHERN PART OF THE CITY CENTER AND THE RIVER BANK OF RHINE



In the northern part of the city center, you can find the river banks of Rhine, Rheinstrasse, the Landestag, the famous Electoral Palace, museums,


the city hall and Kaiserstrasse with its Christ Church. The area is a mix of grey modernist buildings and historical baroque buildings.





Theodor-Heuss-Brücke goes over River Rhine (Rhein) to the district Kastel in the city of Wiesbaden. It is possible to walk over the bridge, but I had no power

left after a whole day of walking.





Relaxing at the River Rhine, that departs the state Rheinland-Falch from Hesse.









The City Hall of Mainz (Rathaus) from 1973 was designed by the famous Danish architect/designer Arne Jacobsen and Otto Weitling and built with Swedish marble.


It looks very cold and horribly uninviting in my opinion.







Ugly or not, it is at least architecturally special?





Rheingoldhalle, a congress center, and Hilton hotel, was built in the same stiff style as the city hall, but is more boring.






















Deutschhaus, a baroque palace from 1740, is the seat of the state Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag.





St Cristoph, a ruined church. It was bombed by the allied ones during WWII.



























Roman-Germanic Central Museum.





Museum?





Petruskirche.










Deutschhaus, a baroque palace from 1740, is the seat of the state Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag.





Note the mountains of the Rhein Valley in the background, behind Rheinstrasse.











The gate between Rhein (Rhine) and Rheinstrasse.






The Electoral Palace (Kurfürstliches Schloss zu Mainz) is the former city residence of the Archbishop of Mainz, who was also Prince-Elector of his electoral state

within the Holy Roman Empire. It is one of the last and most important Renaissance buildings in Germany.









The Electoral Palace, here just before dusk, was built in 17th to 18th centuries. Parts of it were destroyed by Napoleon.
AROUND THE STATION AND KAISERSTRASSE



This part is about the around from the railway station at Alicienplatz/Bahnhofplatz to Kaiserstrasse, the boulevard that leads to the renaissance Christ


Church, and Schillerstrasse, that leads to Schillerplatz and the Old Town.





Hauptbahnhof, the Main Railway Station, where I arrived is located in the west edge of the city center.





Alicenplatz (Bahnhofplatz) in front of the station with the twin Bonifazius Turm A+B (95m, 24 floors), the city's tallest buildings.






























Bassenheimer Hof.


Towards Christuskirche.





Christuskirche is located on the northeast end of the relaxed bouelavard Kaiserstrasse with a park in the middle. It is located a bit off the touristy quarters, so it feels

like a hidden gem. Christuskirche (Christ Church), probably Mainz's most underrated sight, was built 1898–1903, bombed during WWII in 1945 and rebuilt in 1948–1954.


















Kaiserstrasse towards Christkirche.


















Bonifazius Turm A+B (95m, 24 floors), the city's tallest buildings. They were built in 1978.