Xanten in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is home to one of the most important Roman settlements by the Rhine. You'll find an open air museum (LVR Romermuseum) that has the actual size of the former Roman town 'Colonia Ulpia Traiana'.
As part of my Destination Challenges in NRW I had to figure out where I could find this 'Colonia Ulpia Traiana'... Many people thought it would be Cologne but it turned out to be the medieval city of Xanten.
Parts of the Roman settlement where once 10.000 people lived are recovered or reconstructed. You can literally take a step back in time and learn all about the Roman way of living.
Let me show you around... ;-)
 |
| Parked Rose by this windmill in Xanten |
Since the Roman settlement is situated by the Rhine they found different types of boats that the Romans used to travel on the river. Today you can find some of these boats reconstructed the same way the Romans made them.
 |
| This is a reconstructed Roman Ferry boat |
 |
| This massive reconstructed sailing boat transported people and goods along the Rhine. |
 |
| Gone Roman fishing... |
You can find the Roman boat wharf on the Roman site and meet with the team in charge of rebuilding these boats. Good people that challenged me to a wood shaving contest.
I lost... :-D
From there I explored the rest of the Roman park. It didn't too long for me to spot the massive harbor temple by the Rhine!
Many schools visit this site and I can only imagine the fun and wonder kids have learning about the Romans in a real life scale model of a Roman town.
A bit further we found a proper Roman villa which shows you in detail how Romans lived.
 |
| A Roman living room :-) |
 |
| The traditional Roman kitchen |
 |
| The Romans made many objects from animal bones. |
 |
| Kids refer to this statue of emperor Traianus as Selfie Emperor... :-) |
 |
| Roman gateway to Colonia Ulpia Traiana |
 |
| this road actually lead to Colonia Ulpia Traiana :-) |
 |
| 'When in Rome' :-D |
 |
| Colonia Ulpia Traiana was home to 10.000 people and this is a scale model of the settlement of Emperor Traianus |
 |
| These gladiator helmets are really heavy! |
 |
| The original Roman ferry that was found by the river Rhine. |
That's all about the Romans by the Rhine folks ;-)
If you'd like to visit you can find the open air museum here: https://goo.gl/maps/chd5GKd6aDB2
I stayed at lovely camping Kerstgenshof in the middle of nature.
Below a HYPERTOUR of my cute little house :-)
You can find the camping here: https://goo.gl/maps/gSq2RRC7Gho
Related content:
- In the footsteps of Charlemagne in Aachen
- The castles of Munsterland
- Visiting the oldest Alt bier brewery in the world
- Kolsch in 'Das Bergische land'
- The Queens of German Beer
- The mountains of the Ruhr District
