The Romans also left their mark on what is now the town of Bad Münstereifel, inviting visitors to explore the area. And that's not all: the town was the first in Europe to completely excavate a Roman industrial site and make it accessible to visitors.
Photo: Town of Bad Münstereifel
Roman industry
In 1966, construction workers in the district of Iversheim came across the remains of a lime kiln – an almost 2,000-year-old testament to Roman mass production. From 225 AD onwards, dolomite rock was processed here in six kilns. And probably on a large scale, because there was more than enough demand for burnt lime in Roman cities and military camps: lime was needed for the production of mortar. When the legionaries left the plant in 300 AD, they probably had no idea that one day it would become part of an exciting journey through Roman times.
Matron cult in the former temple district
A little outside the city, but well worth a detour for time travellers: the "pagan temple" in the Nöthen district. The partially reconstructed temple district from the first to fourth centuries AD displays impressive relics of the Roman cult of matrons. In religious terms, however, the present-day urban area also played an important role many years later: in 830, Prüm Abbey founded the Münstereifel monastery in the upper Erft Valley. This developed into a much-visited place of pilgrimage. The reason: in 844, the remains of the Roman martyr couple Chrysanthus and Daria were laid to rest here.
