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.

Schillerplatz with Osteiner Hof and the Carneval Fountain. Osteiner Hof is a noble baroque palace completed in 1752 for bishop Ostein. The Osteiner Hof plays an
important part in the local carnival traditions. Every year, in November, the start of the carnival season is proclaimed from the balcony of the mansion.

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.

Detail of a cat in the Carneval Fountain, where I sat down and relaxed for a while after a hard day of walking.

Bassenheimer Hof seen from Schillerplatz.

Schillerstrasse towards the railway station.

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

The curvy Gaustrasse.

Gaustrasse with St. Stephan's church in the background.

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

The Church of St-Stephan has postwar windows by Marc Chagal.

View from St Stephans towards the cathedral.

An umbrella fountain.

Weissliliengasse towards Holzhof.

Nice houses in Altstadt.

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

Part of Holzhof.

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.

To the right is Augstinerkirche.

All pictures above are from Augustinerstrasse. The ad is for a Green Day concert.

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.

A side street to Augustinerstrasse.

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.

Kirschgarten's cherry trees.

Half-timbered house at Kirschgarten.

Towards the Dom.

Below the Dom.