On Foot through Coriovallum (Heerlen) – 6.5 km

Begin your journey of discovery through Roman Heerlen, the site of the largest Roman excavation ever conducted in the Netherlands. It is still the only place where you can actually step inside a Roman building. During this walk, you will encounter remains of the old pottery town in the most unexpected places: beneath today’s roads, under the cobblestones, and hidden in cellars.

Coriovallum owed its existence to its location at the crossroads of two major Roman roads: the Via Belgica and the Via Traiana. Even then, Heerlen was already a true industrial city. The many Roman pottery kilns that have been found point to large-scale production of Roman ceramics.

Industry drove the city’s growth: a substantial settlement emerged. There was a bathhouse, a town hall, and large cemeteries surrounding it. Both direct and more recent reminders of that Roman era can still be found all over present-day Heerlen.