Guided cultural-historical bike tour of the Roman forts in the Gouda area.
The tour starts and ends in Gouda. The guide is Gert Jacob de Graaf, an architect from Gouda who built the Cohortus, a replica of a Roman soldiers’ barracks located at the Hortus Populus in Bodegraven.
The Rhine River formed part of the northern border of the Roman Empire, and the word for “border” in Latin is “limes.” The Romans built watchtowers, roads, waterworks, and military camps—known as castella—along the river. They did this to guard the border, but also to trade with the local population.
The tour passes by the Cohortus and the castella of Bodegraven, Zwammerdam, and Woerden, and follows a section of the Limesweg, the road that connected the forts. Detailed explanations of the castella are provided on site. The Roman ruins along the Oude Rijn have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021.
The tour starts at 9:30 a.m. at Agnietenstraat 19 in Gouda, near the former barracks.
Total distance: 50 km; expected return to Gouda: 5:00 p.m.
Participation fee: €20 per person. Please bring your own bicycle.
We'll have a picnic somewhere along the way, so please bring your own lunch.
Sign up via gertjacob@hotmail.com
Information
End: 5:00 p.m.