Fortsite and civil settlement of Echzell and Watchtower WP 1/73

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Fortsite and civil settlement of Echzell

   Echzell is a village of a few thousand people in the Wetterau, the broad, fertile basin north-east of Frankfurt, where loess soil has been farmed since the Stone Age and the horizon rarely rises above a gentle swell. The Romans liked it for exactly that reason. They built a fort at Echzell in the later first century as part of their push into the Wetterau, and a civil settlement grew up around it in the usual way, with traders, craftsmen and families outside the gates. The fort later became part of the Upper German-Raetian Limes, which UNESCO listed in 2005. Almost nothing of the walls stands now, and the outline lies mostly under fields and houses, so the Echzell stop is about reading a landscape rather than visiting a monument.

   Read the complete Fortsite and civil settlement of Echzell write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Fortsite and civil settlement of Echzell is where the day begins. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/23.

2. 2. Watchtowers WP 3/23

   Idstein sits in a bowl of the Taunus hills north of Wiesbaden, and its centre is among the best-kept half-timbered towns in Hesse. The Killinger House, a tall timber-framed building with elaborate carving, is the showpiece, and the Witches' Tower, a stone remnant of the old castle, stands above the old town as a reminder of a darker chapter. The Roman Limes passes through the hills just to the north, and Watchtower 3/23 is one of many positions on the ridge, part of the line that ran for about five hundred kilometres across Germany.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/23 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Watchtowers WP 3/23 comes up about 95 km into the recorded legs. Next is Watchtower WP 1/73.

3. 3. Watchtower WP 1/73

   The Roman frontier in Germany starts at the Rhine near Rheinbrohl and climbs into the hills of the Westerwald, and Watchtower WP 1/73, near Hillscheid, belongs to that first stretch. The numbers tell you where you are: section one, tower seventy-three. All that survives is a low mound in the woods, but in the second and third centuries it was a stone tower with a view over the frontier line and, behind it, the palisade and ditch that ran across the landscape. The Upper Germanic-Raetian Limes has been part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire since 2005, and this is where it all begins.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 1/73 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 155 km into the recorded legs you reach Watchtower WP 1/73. Next is back through Watchtowers WP 3/23.

4. 4. back through Watchtowers WP 3/23

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtowers WP 3/23 write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Watchtowers WP 3/23, late in the day. Next is Fortsite and civil settlement of Echzell.

5. 5. Fortsite and civil settlement of Echzell

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fortsite and civil settlement of Echzell write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Fortsite and civil settlement of Echzell. That is the ride.