Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz and Watchtowers WP 3/23

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz

   Some of the gravestones on the sandy rise known in Mainz as the Judensand are close to a thousand years old. The oldest dated stone here goes back to the middle of the eleventh century, which makes this one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Together with sites in Speyer and Worms, Mainz formed the ShUM communities, centres of learning on the Rhine whose scholars shaped Ashkenazi Judaism for centuries, and in 2021 the three were listed together as a World Heritage Site. Mainz was Magenza in Hebrew, home to rabbis whose rulings were followed far beyond the Rhineland.

   Read the complete Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz is where the day begins. Next is Watchtower WP 3/23*.

2. 2. Watchtower WP 3/23*

   On the wooded ridges near Idstein, the Taunus Limes crossed some of its highest and most remote ground, and Watchtower WP 3/23 is one of the many sites along this stretch. The asterisk in the official label suggests a site whose exact location is uncertain or reconstructed from survey work, which is common along the frontier, where many towers survive only as faint mounds in the forest. Still, walking the Limes trail here, with the bank and ditch running through the beech woods, gives a real sense of the Roman border.

   Read the complete Watchtower WP 3/23* write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Watchtower WP 3/23* comes up 26 km in. Next is Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg.

3. 3. Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg

   If you want to know what a Roman frontier fort actually looked like, this is the place. The Saalburg, on the ridge of the Taunus above Bad Homburg, is the only Limes fort in Germany rebuilt in full: walls, gates, towers, granary and the headquarters building, all standing again on their original foundations. The reconstruction was ordered by Kaiser Wilhelm II around 1900, who liked his Romans grand and imperial, and while archaeologists today debate some details, walking through the main gate is still a jolt.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   53 km in you reach Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg. Next is Watchtowers WP 3/23.

4. 4. 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, about halfway. Next is back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg.

5. 5. back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Fort site and civil settlement of Saalburg sits at 105 km, about halfway. Next is back through Watchtower WP 3/23*.

6. 6. back through Watchtower WP 3/23*

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Watchtower 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 Watchtower WP 3/23* comes up 132 km in. Next is Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz.

7. 7. Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Old Jewish Cemetery Mainz closes the day.