{"id":21356,"date":"2026-04-07T20:02:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/?post_type=plek&#038;p=21356"},"modified":"2026-04-07T20:52:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:52:56","slug":"baptistery-domhof-layers-of-roman-and-medieval-life","status":"publish","type":"plek","link":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/plek\/baptistery-domhof-layers-of-roman-and-medieval-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Baptistery (Domhof) \u2013 Layers of Roman and Medieval Life"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"template":"","plek_types":[79,82],"class_list":["post-21356","plek","type-plek","status-publish","hentry","plek_types-archaeological-site","plek_types-education"],"acf":{"tekstkleur":false,"nummer":555,"kleur":"#000000","adres":{"address":"Domhof 1, Aken, Duitsland","lat":50.77472299999999,"lng":6.0839203,"zoom":19,"place_id":"ChIJ1Q4runyZwEcR88qsFANa6aA","name":"Domhof 1","street_number":1,"street_name":"Domhof","city":"Aachen","city_short":"AC","state":"Nordrhein-Westfalen","state_short":"NRW","post_code":52062,"country":"Duitsland","country_short":"DE"},"straatnaam":"Domhof 1","postcode":"52062","plaats":"Aken","website":"Website van Centre Charlemagne","website_url":"https:\/\/centre-charlemagne.eu\/?lang=en","hotspot_naam":"Baptistery, Aachen","afbeelding":21352,"contactpersonen":"","email":"info@centre-charlemagne.eu","telefoon":"+49 241 4324931","videobox_contentblok":"","content":"The name Aquae Granni, the Roman precursor of modern-day Aachen, points to 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. The earliest thermal baths date to around the turn of the millennium. From 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.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>A City Growing Around Its Baths<\/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\nAquae Granni became one of the Roman Empire\u2019s leading wellness centres and the only major spa in Germania Inferior.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>Continuity into the Baptistery<\/h3>\r\nThe city\u2019s Roman foundations continued to shape its urban life for centuries, as can be seen at the Baptistery in the Domhof. Near the northern exterior wall of the Baptistery, a fragment of a 2nd-century funerary monument is embedded in the masonry. In the chapel\u2019s basement, excavations have revealed Roman and medieval buildings and multiple settlement layers, preserved as an Archaeological Zone.\r\n\r\nAlthough access is currently limited to guided tours, a digital presentation is planned to make the site more widely accessible. The Baptistery illustrates how Aachen\u2019s Roman urban structures provided the framework for later medieval development, highlighting nearly two millennia of continuous settlement and lasting influence!\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>Discover Roman Aachen on the VIA VIA Route, 2027<\/h3>\r\nThe Baptistery is one of ten stops along the VIA VIA Roman City Walk route of Aachen, which links the museum exhibit in Centre Charlemagne with visible archaeological remains across the city. You encounter on this route traces of Roman walls, floors, bath complexes, forums, and late-Roman fortifications, with interpretive panels, videos, and Roman \u201ccharacters\u201d providing context. Sites like the Baptistery illustrate how Aachen\u2019s fascinating Roman past persisted through medieval times.\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":[23929],"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":"Excavation photo of the archaeological remains is by city archaeologist Andreas Schaub.","antwoord":""}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plek\/21356","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\/23929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"plek_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plek_types?post=21356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}