Italian Award for Karen Jeneson
Author: Harry Lindelauf
Photography: Anja Neskens
Curator Karen Jeneson of the Thermenmuseum in Heerlen has been appointed Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy. The award was presented to her on 19 January by the Italian Ambassador, Giorgio Novello, in recognition of her achievements in the research and preservation of the Roman bathhouse in Heerlen.
According to the ambassador, the bathhouse stands as Roman heritage and symbolizes the centuries-long relationship between Italy and the Netherlands. Archaeologist Karen Jeneson has been dedicated for many years to research on the Roman bathhouse, the only Roman building in the Netherlands that can still be visited. For her, management and preservation are just as important as the many stories surrounding the bathhouse – stories of Roman architecture, of the Roman army that built the bathhouse, and of the local population that gradually adopted Roman culture. Karen Jeneson is also a Friend of Via Belgica and, in that role, actively involved in research on this Roman road crossing South Limburg. In February 2023, she published her book The Roman Bathhouse of Heerlen, which brings together the most recent knowledge about the monument. The book is based on a comprehensive study that reviewed all research on the bathhouse since 1940 and linked it to the findings of new investigations.
To underline its national significance, the Roman bathhouse has now been included as a key piece in the Canon of the Netherlands. The Canon presents, in fifty windows, the most important events, people, and objects in Dutch history. The bathhouse, together with the inscribed jug of the potter Lucius from Roman Heerlen, is now part of the Canon window “The Roman Limes.”
