Roman Townwall

A jagged stretch of uneven limestone blocks rises from the sidewalk, marking the northern perimeter of Roman Cologne. These remains once formed part of a massive wall built in the first century to protect the colony of Claudia Ara Agrippinensium from Germanic raids. When laborers dug into this street in the nineteen fifties, they discovered that the foundation sat directly atop older wooden palisades. A single brass plate embedded in the masonry records the name of a soldier stationed here two thousand years ago.