Partner – City Aachen

With around 260.000 inhabitants, Aachen is the largest city in the Meuse-Rhine Euregio and the undisputed heart of the Aachen region. The city boasts a rich historical heritage, rooted in its local hot springs. Even before the beginning of our era, a Romanised population settled here, making use of the springs and later constructing impressive bathhouses on these sites. These bathhouses stood at the center of a carefully planned settlement and, at their height in the second half of the 2nd century, ranked among the largest thermal baths in the entire Roman Empire! Around the year 800, Charlemagne deliberately chose to build his magnificent palace on the remains of this Roman settlement.

Today, Aachen’s Roman heritage can be discovered in many different ways! In the modern Aachen City Museum “Centre Charlemagne”, history comes to life, but also through a series of “Archaeological Windows” spread across the city center, offering unique insights into Roman-era finds.

Partners in VIA VIA

As part of the Interreg VIA VIA project, all these insights are brought together in one fascinating walking route! Within the city administration, the museum network of the “Route Charlemagne” and Aachen’s City Archaeology department take the lead in this project.