Heerlen

Heerlen, in the southeast Netherlands, was the Roman settlement of Coriovallum, established in the early 1st century AD at the intersection of the Via Belgica (Cologne to Boulogne) and the road to Xanten. The town's public bathhouse, built c. 40-70 AD and later rebuilt under Emperor Hadrian by soldiers of Legio XXX, is the largest visible Roman ruin in the Netherlands, featuring cold, tepid, and warm baths with a hypocaust heating system. Archaeological excavations uncovered 46 pottery kilns, indicating Coriovallum was a major ceramics production center due to local white clay deposits. A 2024 discovery revealed the tomb of a Roman soldier named Flaccus, representing the earliest evidence of Roman settlement at the site.