In 1950, workmen digging in a Straubing suburb found a hoard that stunned archaeologists: a collection of Roman parade armour, helmets with face masks and decorated metal pieces, buried in the third century, probably to hide them from invaders. The Straubing Roman treasure is now one of the most important finds of its kind north of the Alps, and it is displayed in the Gäubodenmuseum in the city. The fort at St Peter, on the eastern edge of town, was part of the same Roman presence. Straubing was Sorviodurum, a Roman town with several forts on the Danube frontier, and this was one of several forts there.
Today the site is marked by St Peter's church and its old cemetery, one of the oldest in Bavaria, with wrought-iron crosses and a chapel. The church stands close to the old Roman camp, and Roman finds have come out of the ground around it. It is a quiet corner, away from the bustle of the town centre, and worth a short stop for the atmosphere of its old graves.
Straubing sits on the Danube in the fertile Gäuboden plain, one of the best farming regions in Bavaria, with wheat, sugar beet and corn spreading to the horizon. The riding is flat and easy, along river roads and straight lanes between fields, with the Bavarian Forest rising to the north-east and offering more rewarding bends. Traffic can be heavy on the main roads, and in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, a huge beer festival, fills the town with visitors. Spring and early autumn are the best seasons.
Straubing has about 45,000 people and everything a rider needs, with fuel stations, supermarkets, cafés and a pretty central square with a tall town tower. A plate of roast pork with dumpling and a Bavarian wheat beer is the obvious meal, or fresh river fish. The old town is pleasant to walk through, with arcaded houses and a Gothic church. If you carry on to the next watchtower of the Limes, the Danube road eastward gives a calm and easy ride, with the river on one side and the fields on the other.