Stationes – a Roman roadside restaurant

Close to Maastricht-Noord station, 2000 years ago there was a Roman roadside restaurant. This so-called stationes lay along the Via Belgica between Maastricht and Meerssen, about an hour’s walk from Maastricht. Here travellers could go for a bite to eat and a drink. Travellers on horseback could even water their horse or pack animal, or even change mounts. In addition to a house floor plan, 12 wells were found, which of course were not all in use at the same time but several at once.

The Via Belgica appears for the most part to correspond with the route of the present Meerssenerweg. Except at the location where we are now. There the Roman road ran straight through the present meadow. Also in Roman times the Kanjel stream flowed here. That stream caused swampy conditions. The Roman road builders therefore saw themselves forced to drive thick pointed oak piles into the ground to prevent the road from sinking into the water. On the piles a layer of clay was applied and on top of that a package of gravel. Archaeological research shows that the road remained in use until the 14th century. We know this through the discovery of several horseshoes from that time along the road. The Romans did not know horseshoes but had a kind of iron shoes to prevent wear of the horses’ hooves. On the place where the Via Belgica lay, new horseshoes have now been laid in the footpath, together with a tile with a Roman covered wagon on it.