At the foot of the Irnicher Berg, Via Agrippa reaches the foothills of the Eifel. It climbs the Irnicher Berg in what is now a slightly winding sunken path. Where the Matthias stele marks a milestone on the pilgrimage route from Neuss to Trier, there may have been a Roman watchtower, as it offered an excellent view as far as Zülpich and, in good weather, as far as Cologne.
From Irnicher Berg, Via Agrippa runs straight as an arrow to the second crossing of the Rotbach stream at the mill “Eickser Mühle”. On both sides of the valley, you can see cuts in the terrain that show the slightly sloping course of the Via Agrippa over the water. While the path on the north side is now buried, it is clearly visible on the south side..
From the Rotbach crossing, it is about one kilometre to the Eickser Busch, where the route leads through the forest for a good two kilometres. Two parallel paths have been preserved there. A road cut made at this point shows that these are two successive routes that overlap in places. The older road was hardly paved. This is probably why it had to be rebuilt – with a solid, six-metre-wide gravel substructure. On top of this were up to twenty thin layers of sand, which were renewed when worn down.
Two stones in the middle of the road indicate a canal. Two further channels, up to 0.8 metres deep and running parallel to the road on the hillside, were buried over time. Water was drained through them. If you follow the road to the edge of the forest near Hostel, the dam is clearly visible in favourable lighting conditions, although it has become significantly flatter due to agricultural cultivation of the fields.
