Bergheim

Around 26 kilometres west of the provincial capital Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Cologne), there was a settlement in Roman times known as the vicus of Elsdorf. The Via Belgica was flanked on both sides by a closed row of buildings. Rectangular strip houses faced the street with their narrow sides, and a shared colonnade (porticus) ran alongside the road, providing pedestrians with shelter as a covered pavement. Comparisons with other vici in Lower Germania suggest that individual houses were at least 25 metres long. We can assume that the rear area of the plots in the vicus of Elsdorf was also used as gardens or commercial production sites, e.g. by potters.

Approximately 90 metres from the Via Belgica was a Gallo-Roman temple (fanum) with surrounding colonnaded walkway. This sanctuary consisted of a rectangular room measuring 8 x 10 metres, which was surrounded by a walkway approximately four metres wide. It is not known whether the walkway was designed as a colonnaded or closed corridor, as is often the case, because only the foundations of the temple have been preserved.

While the houses were built at right angles to the Via Belgica, the Gallo Roman temple with surrounding colonnaded walkway and other buildings in its immediate vicinity show a different orientation. It appears that these buildings were not oriented towards the Via Belgica, but rather towards a side road that has not yet been identified. This would suggest that the vicus of Elsdorf was located at a fork in the road in Roman times. The sanctuary and other buildings were located on the side road, which joined Via Belgica at an acute angle from the south-west.