Meet Caecilia

Welcome to the walking tour through Roman Kerkrade. This walk is based on archaeological sites in the municipality of Kerkrade.

Archaeology and music. Not a very obvious combination, you would think. But yes, in Kerkrade.

Music is in the DNA of the people of Kerkrade. Harmony, brass band, the 4-yearly World Music Contest, it has a long tradition. In 2021 Emma Kok from Kerkrade won The Voice of Holland Kids. An achievement with which she and Kerkrade made history.

The history of Kerkrade knows two special excavations in the field of Roman archaeology.

A spectacular find was the Roman villa, or rather estate, at the Holzkuil, of which the yard with all houses and barns was completely excavated in 2014.

The excavation at the Euregiopark industrial estate (where McDonalds is now located) uncovered 4 farms made of organic material and wells. Did families live here completely self-sufficient or perhaps the workers who were needed for the work on the large farms such as at the estate the Holzkuil lived here? A special find was a terracotta little bear found in a sacrificial pit.

Music and the farming settlement are the source of inspiration for our Roman character Caecilia. She never really existed but we let her tell the story of her life as a farmer’s daughter in Roman times, a young woman who dreams of a singing career.