The Via Belgica

Via Belgica is the given name in the twentieth century to a 400-kilometer-long ancient Roman highway. The Via Belgica ran from Boulogne-sur-Mer via Arras, Bavay, Tongeren, Heerlen and Maastricht to Jülich and Cologne. Within the current national borders, the Via Belgica crossed the border in Dutch Limburg near Maastricht to continue along Meerssen, Valkenburg aan de Geul and Voerendaal. To then cross the border into Germany via Heerlen and Landgraaf at Rimburg.

The road was an important part of a large and complex network of roads and waterways that stretched to the farthest reaches of the Roman empire. In northwestern Europe, it played a leading role in local and interregional economic development, strategic military defense and the administration of the new provinces. At the junctions of the main roads and rivers, the Romans established guard posts or small villages arose that grew into larger settlements such as Heerlen and Maastricht.