Aldenhoven

It all began when Emperor Augustus had a revolutionary idea: he founded the cursus publicus, the state courier and transport service. The carriages used to transport messages, goods and people travelled along the Roman roads – including the Via Belgica. One of the rest houses that were located at least every 40 kilometres along the roads stood at this point. These 40 kilometres corresponded to the distance that was considered a day's journey in the days of the Roman Empire.

The road station in Aldenhoven was discovered in the 1960s when Roman bricks and pottery shards were found in a field. A geophysical survey revealed the floor plan of a rectangular building with a protruding corner room, the main front facing the Via Belgica. Here and on the narrow western side, the house was divided into chambers of approximately equal size, grouped around a courtyard – a layout characteristic of Roman inns.

Further measurements have revealed that there were also outbuildings next to the main house. These usually included stables and barns, and often a bathhouse. To the west of the building, a side road branched off from the Via Belgica towards the south-west. The floor plan of the inn building was confirmed by an archaeological excavation in spring 2014.