{"id":25829,"date":"2026-05-11T18:36:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T16:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/route\/meerssen-godin-minerva-een-wandeling-vol-goede-raad-8-km-2\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T21:10:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T19:10:40","slug":"meerssen-godin-minerva-een-wandeling-vol-goede-raad-8-km-2","status":"publish","type":"route","link":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/route\/meerssen-godin-minerva-een-wandeling-vol-goede-raad-8-km-2\/","title":{"rendered":"MEERSSEN \u2013 Goddess Minerva \u2013 Gods and people \u2013 3.2 km"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to the walk through Roman Meerssen. The Roman goddess Minerva will accompany you.<\/p>\n<p>Religious heritage is Meerssen\u2019s calling card. No wonder, because anyone visiting Meerssen cannot miss its beautiful basilica, the masterpiece of Meuse Gothic architecture. The Leopold Church and the synagogue also deserve special mention.<\/p>\n<p>The bronze relief by Wil van der Laan on the fa\u00e7ade of the town hall opposite the basilica depicts important moments from the town\u2019s history. Minerva will point out this relief to you along the way. The artwork\u2019s title, \u201cMarsna,\u201d refers to the Roman era in the Geul Valley.<\/p>\n<p>In Roman times, the water of the Geul River, the fertile soil, and the hillside forests rich in wildlife created ideal conditions for living and working. Add to that the fact that the Via Belgica passed through the Geul Valley, and it becomes clear why this was such an attractive place to settle.<\/p>\n<p>Numerous archaeological discoveries show us that life and work in the Geul Valley during Roman times were prosperous and pleasant \u2014 just as they are today.<\/p>\n<p>And where people live, there are gods as well. The discovery of fragments of a statue of Minerva shows that this goddess was present in the lives of the valley\u2019s inhabitants. Did Minerva, goddess of wisdom and craftsmanship, really exist? That is not a question one asks a goddess!<\/p>\n<p>Practical information:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Starting point of the walking route? Boscaf\u00e9 De Nachtegaal, Gemeentebroek 6, Meerssen<\/li>\n<li>Distance? 3.2 km<\/li>\n<li>Roman guide? Goddess Minerva<\/li>\n<li>Tips for your ideal audio walk:\n<ul>\n<li>Download the free VIA VIA \/ Via Belgica app from the App Store or Play Store<\/li>\n<li>Select your language in the app and activate notifications<\/li>\n<li>Earphones will enhance your listening experience<\/li>\n<li>Enable your location and let the GPS system in the app guide you<\/li>\n<li>At special locations, you will hear the sound of a Roman cornu and a pop-up with additional information will appear in the app<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Credits: The audio walks were developed by public archaeologist B\u00e9atrice de Fraiture \u2013 BdF Producties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","varianten":[110],"class_list":["post-25829","route","type-route","status-publish","hentry","varianten-listening-routes"],"acf":{"tekstkleur":false,"kleur":"#1e73be","type":["lopen"],"straatnaam":"","postcode":"","plaats":"","adres":{"address":"Boscaf\u00e9 De Nachtegaal, Gemeentebroek, Meerssen, Nederland","lat":50.87469360000001,"lng":5.7621094,"zoom":14,"place_id":"ChIJp28nj97BwEcRbTDS01TPu2o","name":"Boscaf\u00e9 De Nachtegaal","street_number":6,"street_name":"Gemeentebroek","city":"Meerssen","state":"Limburg","state_short":"LI","post_code":"6231 RV","country":"Nederland","country_short":"NL"},"aantal_kilometer":"3,2","duur":"","startplaats":"Boscaf\u00e9 De Nachtegaal, Meerssen","afbeelding":24261,"gerelateerde_content":null,"download":24753,"kml_betawerk_app":[{"kml_bestand":24757}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>MEERSSEN \u2013 Goddess Minerva \u2013 Gods and people \u2013 3.2 km - Via Belgica<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/route\/meerssen-godin-minerva-een-wandeling-vol-goede-raad-8-km-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MEERSSEN \u2013 Goddess Minerva \u2013 Gods and people \u2013 3.2 km - Via Belgica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Welcome to the walk through Roman Meerssen. The Roman goddess Minerva will accompany you. Religious heritage is Meerssen\u2019s calling card. No wonder, because anyone visiting Meerssen cannot miss its beautiful basilica, the masterpiece of Meuse Gothic architecture. The Leopold Church and the synagogue also deserve special mention. The bronze relief by Wil van der Laan [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/route\/meerssen-godin-minerva-een-wandeling-vol-goede-raad-8-km-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Via Belgica\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-16T19:10:40+00:00\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.viabelgica.nl\\\/en\\\/route\\\/meerssen-godin-minerva-een-wandeling-vol-goede-raad-8-km-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.viabelgica.nl\\\/en\\\/route\\\/meerssen-godin-minerva-een-wandeling-vol-goede-raad-8-km-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"MEERSSEN \u2013 Goddess Minerva \u2013 Gods and people \u2013 3.2 km - Via Belgica\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.viabelgica.nl\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-11T16:36:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-16T19:10:40+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.viabelgica.nl\\\/en\\\/route\\\/meerssen-godin-minerva-een-wandeling-vol-goede-raad-8-km-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.viabelgica.nl\\\/en\\\/route\\\/meerssen-godin-minerva-een-wandeling-vol-goede-raad-8-km-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.viabelgica.nl\\\/en\\\/route\\\/meerssen-godin-minerva-een-wandeling-vol-goede-raad-8-km-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.viabelgica.nl\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Routes\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.viabelgica.nl\\\/en\\\/route\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"MEERSSEN \u2013 Goddess Minerva \u2013 Gods and people \u2013 3.2 km\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.viabelgica.nl\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.viabelgica.nl\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Via Belgica\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.viabelgica.nl\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MEERSSEN \u2013 Goddess Minerva \u2013 Gods and people \u2013 3.2 km - Via Belgica","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/route\/meerssen-godin-minerva-een-wandeling-vol-goede-raad-8-km-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MEERSSEN \u2013 Goddess Minerva \u2013 Gods and people \u2013 3.2 km - Via Belgica","og_description":"Welcome to the walk through Roman Meerssen. 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