Mainz - is the state capitol of the Rhineland-Palatinate and Mainz is located at the northern end of the Upper Rhine Plain where the Rhine and Main rivers converge.  In the early Middle Ages, Mainz played a significant role in the Christianisation of the German and Slavic peoples.  It is the home of :

1.  The Gutenberg Museum (under renovation unfortunately) and Gutenberg University.  Mainz is the birthplace of Johannes Gutenberg, who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable type printing press, starting the global spread of the printing press, and in the early 1450s manufactured his first books in the city, including the Gutenberg Bibles

2. Mainz Cathedral of St. Martin over 1,000 years old.  It is one of the three Rhine Holy Roman Empire Cathedrals along with Speyer Cathedral and Worms Cathedral.

3.  St Stephen's Church with Marc Chagall windows.  The Collegiate Church of St. Stephan, known in German as St. Stephan zu Mainz, is a Gothic hall collegiate church located in the German city of Mainz. It is known for windows created by Marc Chagall.

Mainz was heavily damaged in World War II; more than 30 air raids destroyed around 80 percent of the old town in the city centre, but after many slow years, many of the buildings were rebuilt post-war.

Street signs were so helpful.  The blue street signs indicated that the streets ran parallel to the river and the reds ones showed that these streets intersected the river.

              

                 

Town square where which has been mostly rebuilt due to the allied bombing of Mainz during WWII

Mainz Cathedral of St Martin which was on one side of the square where the market place was located

 Bird's eye view of the cathedral 

Pipes to the organ...I do like seeing the different pipe organs in churches as I was raised in a stone church that had a pipe organ

St Martin lived between around AD 316 and 397. He began his career as a Roman soldier, but one day he saw a freezing beggar in the street. He cut his cloak in two, and gave half to the beggar. Afterwards he dreamt that the beggar was actually Jesus, and it changed his life. 

Martin became a Christian and resigned from the army. He later became Bishop of Tours in France. Martin is the patron saint of soldiers, beggars and France. His feast day is November 11th – Armistice Day.

Cloister - a covered walk in a convent, monastery, college, or cathedral, typically with a colonnade open to a quadrangle on one side.

I just liked the ironwork over this exit of the cloister

St Stephen's College Church was located on the top of a hill.  Worth the walk!  Only a few changes have been made to the church since the 14th century.  St. Stephan was heavily damaged in the cause of the bombing of Mainz in World War II.  The Chagall choir windows, obviously part of those changes, are unique in Germany. Between 1978 and his death in 1985, Belarusian Jewish artist Marc Chagall created nine stained-glass windows of scriptural figures in luminous blue.

The windows are very modern, but I liked the continuity of color and style and his attention to the smaller details to make it uniform.

Choir Windows

Detailing

Back of church and detail of the small round window.

Very back wall of church and detailing.  There is symbolism and a story in the art work but I would need an interpreter to help me tell you where the details are.  So, just enjoy the blues.

Always fun to look up

Very modern pipe organ (October 2015).  The first picture is obviously the pipes, the second the actually organ and the last an overview of the two together.

And a detailing of a small blue cross window as you leave the church.