The Via Belgica does not lie beneath the Hereweg in Landgraaf
Author: Harry Lindelauf
Photography: RAAP
The discussion about the route of the Via Belgica in Landgraaf has become somewhat simpler. Archaeological research in Rimburg shows that the Roman road lies beneath the Rinckberg, Broekhuizenstraat, and Palenbergerweg.
This eliminates the option that the Romans constructed an exit from the Wormdal via the Lindegracht. And that again means that the main road towards Coriovallum (Heerlen) does not follow a line towards the Haanweg and Hereweg. Regional archaeologist Hilde Vanneste pointed out the results of archaeological research from 2021 and 2022 during a lecture on May 2, 2024, in Rimburg. The reconstruction of the main road in Rimburg offered the opportunity to look for traces from the past beneath the modern road. Those traces were indeed found. In several places, the gravel used by the Romans to build their roads was discovered. In one location, the most recent road surface was found, including cart tracks.
Two variants remain
Enthusiasts can now limit the discussion about the Via Belgica route in Landgraaf to two southern variants. In variant 1, the road follows, at the same elevation, the edge of the Wormdal in the direction of Eygelshoven. The road crosses near the former Licom garden center toward the Hulsbosch and the Eykhagenbos in Nieuwenhagen. In the Hulsbosch, stones have been found that may indicate a watchtower such as the one that once stood on the Goudsberg in Valkenburg.
Thanks to the dry periods of a few years ago, aerial photographs of the fields between the Hulsbosch and the Heerlen–Herzogenrath railway have revealed signs of a gravel track that indicates the Roman road.
The second, southern variant means that the Romans traveled via Eygelshoven towards Schaesberg. The route runs along the current Torenstraat, crosses diagonally to the Koeweg, and then continues to the Brandhofstraat in Schaesberg. In the Kisselsbos, a dry valley makes it possible to cut through the steep forest edge to reach, via the Vossekuil, the Molenberg behind the Op de Berg monastery in Heerlen.
