{"id":21264,"date":"2026-04-07T20:16:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/?post_type=plek&#038;p=21264"},"modified":"2026-04-07T20:16:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:16:53","slug":"aquae-granni-roman-aachen-at-the-centre-charlemagne","status":"publish","type":"plek","link":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/plek\/aquae-granni-roman-aachen-at-the-centre-charlemagne\/","title":{"rendered":"Aquae Granni \u2013 Roman Aachen at the Centre Charlemagne"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"template":"","plek_types":[82,88],"class_list":["post-21264","plek","type-plek","status-publish","hentry","plek_types-education","plek_types-museum-en"],"acf":{"tekstkleur":false,"nummer":547,"kleur":"#000000","adres":{"address":"Katschhof 1, 52062 Aachen, Duitsland","lat":50.77573328532035,"lng":6.08343780040741,"zoom":19,"place_id":"ChIJQ3A4oHyZwEcR678N6NCb6OU","street_number":1,"street_name":"Katschhof","city":"Aachen","city_short":"AC","state":"Nordrhein-Westfalen","state_short":"NRW","post_code":52062,"country":"Duitsland","country_short":"DE"},"straatnaam":"Katschhof 1","postcode":"52062","plaats":"Aken","website":"Website of Centre Charlemagne","website_url":"https:\/\/centre-charlemagne.eu\/?lang=en","hotspot_naam":"Centre Charlemagne, Aachen","afbeelding":21260,"contactpersonen":"","email":" info@centre-charlemagne.eu","telefoon":"+49 241 4324931","videobox_contentblok":"","content":"A visit to the City Museum at the Katschhof offers a vivid introduction to Aquae Granni, the Roman precursor of modern Aachen. The name alone reveals Roman Aachen\u2019s greatest asset: its hot springs! The mineral waters were quickly believed to have healing powers. Granni refers to Grannus, a Gallic deity associated with health and recovery.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>The Birth of a Roman Spa Town<\/h3>\r\nFrom the outset, the Romans envisioned Aachen on a grand scale: even at its founding, the town had the air of a true city \u2013 30 hectares in size, with wooden houses, thermal baths, and even a stone bathhouse with tiled roofs. Medical knowledge clustered around the springs, making the town both a spa and an early centre of therapeutic practice.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>A City Transformed Under Trajan<\/h3>\r\nIn the early second century, Aquae Granni underwent a complete urban renewal. Emperor Trajan may have intended to elevate the vicus to a regional capital \u2013 a theory supported by stamped bricks and an inscription bearing his name. The original baths made way for a monumental square of more than 6,000 square metres, likely containing a forum and temple. Across the city, monumental new bath complexes were built.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>A Cosmopolitan Centre of the Roman Empire<\/h3>\r\nThis expansion turned Aquae Granni into one of the most important wellness centres in the Roman world, and the only major spa in the province of Germania Inferior. Travellers came here from all corners of the Empire: a true melting pot of colours, languages, cultures, and religions. Even Phrygian and Egyptian gods such as Cybele, Isis, and Harpocrates had their devotees here.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>Your Starting Point on the VIA VIA Roman City Route, 2027<\/h3>\r\nFrom 2027 onward, the Centre Charlemagne serves as the starting point of the VIA VIA Roman City Walk route of Aachen. This themed trail guides visitors through the historic city centre, with viewing windows, reconstructions, and concise information points revealing traces of Roman baths, housing, and the city\u2019s layout\u2014linking the museum\u2019s exhibit on the city in Centre Charlemagne with archaeological remains throughout Aachen.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nAre you ready to take a walk?\r\n<h3>\u201c\u2018The city smells of rotten eggs,\u2019 Julia grimaces. My daughter is right. The thermal baths of Aquae Granni may be healing, but their sulphurous stench is unbearable. It doesn\u2019t seem to bother the bathers, though. Our cart moves forward at a crawl through a crowd of shuffling people and wagons piled high with wood. \u2018Most of it is for the baths,\u2019 says a dark-skinned man walking beside us. \u2018Every day, the thermae and the underfloor heating of the rich devour another piece of the forest. The baths heal the body, but not nature,\u2019 he sighs, before vanishing again into the throng. Quintus Iulius has come up with the idea of bottling the spring water and selling it at the markets of Germania Inferior. Personally, I\u2019m just looking forward to sliding into the warm water for a few hours \u2014 and talking with people from all corners of the Empire. Perhaps I\u2019ll overhear some news about the situation in Rome. They seem to change emperors every few months this year. Murder and decapitation \u2014 not even the most curative water can wash that away.\u201d \u2013 Ammulva Iucunda<\/h3>","slideshow":[21260],"ontdekken_video_box":{"ontdekken_video_titel":"","ontdekken_video_paragraaf":"","ontdekken_video_iframe":""},"ontdekken_360_box":{"ontdekken_360_titel":"","ontdekken_360_paragraaf":"","ontdekken_360_iframe":""},"doen":null,"weten":[{"vraag":"The image shows the interior of the exhibition hall of the Centre Charlemagne, taken by photographer Peter Hinschl\u00e4ger.","antwoord":""}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plek\/21264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plek"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/plek"}],"acf:attachment":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"plek_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plek_types?post=21264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}