Mainz is one of Germany's oldest cities, founded by the Romans more than 2,000 years ago on the west bank of the Rhine River. As the capital of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Mainz has long been an important center of trade, religion, and culture, thanks to its strategic location at the confluence of the Rhine and Main rivers. Mainz is best known as the hometown of Johannes Gutenberg, who revolutionized the world with the invention of movable-type printing around 1450. The city's skyline is dominated by the magnificent Mainz Cathedral, a thousand-year-old Romanesque masterpiece that has witnessed the coronation of kings and the history of the Holy Roman Empire.