Aufschluss der römischen Wasserleitung

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk in the footsteps of Romans? You’re standing right now at the Aufschluss der römischen Wasserleitung, the site of a once mighty, 95-kilometre-long aqueduct that brought fresh spring water to Cologne in the year 80 AD. It’s hard to imagine the vastness of this engineering feat as you look at just a small section of its course, but imagine walking past a magnificent, arched bridge that spanned a valley for 1,400 metres. You might think, “This reminds me of the Pont du Gard in France!”, but this structure is even longer than the famed Pont du Gard. The Eifel aqueduct, built in AD 80, supplied fountains, baths, and private homes throughout the Roman city of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. The aqueduct remained in use until about 260, when the German tribes first plundered and destroyed Cologne. The city was never able to bring it back into operation after this event. The aqueduct was also a source of building materials during the Middle Ages. The limestone-like limescale accretions from the inside were a sought-after material. It’s a strange thought, that a magnificent aqueduct would be dismantled for its materials, but that’s exactly what happened. The builders of the Eifel aqueduct solved the problem of frost by running it underground. The aqueduct thus remained well-preserved, and we can learn much about Roman engineering by studying its remains. So as you walk through this slice of Roman history, imagine the vital lifeline that flowed from this aqueduct, bringing life to a thriving Roman city.