The area of the municipality of Nettersheim, founded in 1969, was densely populated by the Romans. This is evidenced by the impressive traces they left behind: temples and fortifications, residential buildings, a manor and, last but not least, the "Grüne Pütz", the starting point of the kilometre-long water pipeline to Cologne.
Photo: Municipality of Nettersheim
High density of archaeological monuments
Walkers can be pleased: most of the archaeological monuments are easily accessible from the Eifel Nature Centre. These include the Matron Shrine and the small fort in the Urft floodplain. They are part of the Roman settlement discovered in 2009, which is now part of the Archaeological Landscape Park. This vicus was most likely Marcomagus, from which the name of the village of Marmagen, 1.5 kilometres away, is derived. Do you fancy a stroll through days long past? A four-kilometre circular trail in the landscape park invites you to take a leap back in time – exciting interactive stations included.
Medusa heads as protection against evil
A fascinating witness to history and also the first stop on the Roman Canal Hiking Trail: the "Grüner Pütz" stone basin, where the famous Roman Eifel aqueduct began. Here, the water springing from the slope was collected before flowing through the Roman canal to the provincial capital, some 100 kilometres away. With the Medusa heads on the cornerstones of the construction, the builders of the time wanted to ward off evil from the water collected here.
