The Via Belgica in Voerendaal in the leading role
Author: Harry Lindelauf
Photography: Municipality of Voerendaal
These are the favourite Via Belgica finds of the experts. Discover what archaeologists answer to our question: what is your favourite Roman find along the Via Belgica in South Limburg? The answers are varied and surprising. From a bronze Diana leg to spectacular sandstone ash chests. In ten episodes we present the choices of experts. In the fifth episode:
Bart Moonen— Policy officer for archaeology
Bart Moonen, policy officer for archaeology of the Province of Limburg: “The most important find for me is the discovery of remains of the Via Belgica in 2001 at the business park Lindelaufer Gewande in Voerendaal.” Remains of the road were mainly known in the cities. Through this discovery, according to him, a connection is created between the cities of Heerlen and Maastricht and the surrounding rural area. “The discovery of the remains of the Via Belgica has opened the doors to embracing and unlocking the shared Roman past,” says Bart Moonen.
Important anchor point
The route of the Via Belgica becomes clearly visible in Voerendaal over several hundreds of metres through an 8-metre-wide package of sand and gravel. The layer lies underneath the business buildings at Lindelaufer Gewande. At a short distance, the Via Belgica has also been demonstrated in Voerendaal at the Oude Midweg and underneath the Bergerweg.
Bart Moonen assisted in 2003 with the archaeological research into the Via Belgica: “As a young, inexperienced archaeologist with a fondness for the Heuvelland, that was a wonderful time. With, for that time, a modern GIS application on a portable field PC, we walked through that ‘Roman’ landscape and searched for remains of the Via Belgica. The remains at Lindelaufer Gewande were an important anchor point in that research.”
After the excavation, several dozens of metres of the Via Belgica remain hidden underneath the business park.
