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Tourist office ( 286 210; www.touristik-mainz.de, www.mainz.de; Brückenturm am Rathaus; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat, 11am-3pm Sun) The Touristik Centrale Mainz is across the pedestrian bridge (ie over the highway) from the Rathaus (town hall). English brochures include a self-guided tour map.

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Sights

DOM ST MARTIN

Mainz’ famed cathedral (Dom St Martin; 9am-6.30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat, 12.45-3pm & 4-6.30pm Sun & holidays Mar-Oct, to 5pm Sun-Fri Nov-Feb), entered from the Marktplatz, is one of Germany’s most magnificent houses of worship. The focal point of the Altstadt, this richly detailed mountain of reddish sandstone, topped by an octagonal tower, went through a literal baptism by fire when the original burned down on the day of its consecration in 1009, an event whose millennium was marked in 2009. Much of what you see today is quintessential 12th-century Romanesque. Over the centuries seven coronations were held here.

Inside, a solemn ambience pervades the nave, which, surprisingly, has a choir at each end. The grandiose, wall-mounted memorial tombstones form a veritable portrait gallery of archbishops and other 13th- to 18th-century power mongers, many portrayed alongside their private putti.

Off the delicate, late-Gothic cloister, accessible from inside the Dom, is the Dom- und Diözesanmuseum (Cathedral & Diocesan Museum; 253 344; www.dommuseum-mainz.de, in German; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun, closed Mon & Catholic holidays; adult/student/family €3.50/3/7), which displays artwork from the cathedral, including sculptures from the rood screen (1239) – the work of the renowned Master of Naumburg – that portray the saved and the, well, not-so-saved. The new Oberer Kreuzgang (Upper Cloister) showcases religious art from the late Middle Ages. In the Schatzkammer (adult/student/family €3/2.50/6, combination ticket €5/4/10), you can see bejewelled ritual objects from as far back as the 10th century (English-language pamphlet available).

OTHER CHURCHES

St-Stephan-Kirche (Kleine Weissgasse 12; 10am-noon & 2-5pm Mon-Thu, 10am-5pm Fri & Sat, noon-5pm Sun Feb-Nov, to 4.30pm Dec & Jan) would be just another Gothic church rebuilt after WWII were it not for the nine brilliant, stained-glass windows created by the Russian-Jewish artist Marc Chagall (1887–1985) in the final years of his life. Bright blue and imbued with a mystical, meditative quality, they serve as a symbol of Jewish-Christian reconciliation.

Mainz also has a trio of stunning baroque churches which illustrate the evolution of this often over-the-top architectural style. Part of the local Catholic seminary, the classically baroque Augustinerkirche (Augustinerstrasse 34; 8am-5pm Mon-Fri, may also open Sat & Sun when the seminary is in session), built in 1768, features an elaborate organ loft and a delicate ceiling fresco by Johann Baptist Enderle. Unlike so many churches in Germany, it has never been destroyed. St Peterskirche (Petersstrasse 3; 9am-6pm, till 5pm in winter) shows off the sumptuous glory of the rococo style and is noted for its richly adorned pulpit and altars. St-Ignatius-Kirche (Kapuzinerstrasse 36; irregular hours) marks the transition from rococo to neoclassicism. The sculpture outside is a copy of one made by Hans Backoffen (the original is in the Dom- und Diözesanmuseum, see left).

GUTENBERG MUSEUM

A heady experience for anyone excited by books, the Gutenberg Museum ( 122 644; www.gutenberg-museum.de; Liebfrauenplatz 5; adult/student & senior/family €5/3/10; 9am-5pm Tue-Sat, 11am-3pm Sun) takes a panoramic look at the technology that made the world as we know it – including this guidebook – possible. Highlights include medieval manuscripts and early printed masterpieces – kept safe in a vault – such as Gutenberg’s original 42-line Bible (see the boxed text, opposite). Many of the signs are in English; a quarter-hour film is available in seven languages.

In the museum’s Druckladen (print shop; 122 686; www.gutenberg-druckladen.de; individual admission free, group admission