Römische Villa Otrang in Fliessem, Germany is a Roman country house from 1 to 4 AD that was discovered and excavated in 1838. You can walk around several constructed buildings that house the original mosaic floors and see what the underground heating system looked like that they used to heat the floors. There is a bath house as well and there is also a model of what the whole villa looked like.
This is a great place to visit for those who like history. One of the reasons I love living in Europe is to see things like this, we just don’t have this kind of history in the US because it’s still so ‘new’ compared to Europe.
There is a parking area, it’s not huge but we managed to squeeze in between two cars. The parking is free.
The walk from the parking area is about a minute. When you get to the buildings head to the one that says Kasse which is where you purchase your ticket and get an English brochure/map. The cashier was friendly and spoke English. They also sell postcards for €0.30.
There is a small restaurant on site as well, although we did not try it out. They claim to have Eifel region specialties and several dishes from Roman recipes. Indoor & Outdoor seating, outdoor seating is the area by the umbrella.
Bathrooms are located downstairs near the first building of the tour on the right. On the left in this photo stairs down in front of the stone wall.
The mosaic floors are interesting and you can get very close to them and even walk around them on a platform but signs are displayed asking you to not walk on the floors themselves. One is even supposed to have a 3D effect if you look at it long enough.
I can only imagine how many hours these floors took to put together!
The underfloor heating is heat and you can see how the laid the stones to keep the tunnels hot so that they could keep the floors warm. I’m not sure it would’ve been a fun job keeping them stoked though.
There are 4 buildings to go in and see excavated finds inside. The above building houses the cellar.
In the cellar is an old wine press trough.
There are models on display of what the villa looked like.
Another building houses a bath house.
There is also a few displays of some items that they have found during the excavations like tools.
This is a great little stop if your out that way or adding it to another few sights. We headed to the Burg Schonecken ruins after the visit and then headed to Bitburg. Also for us it was another day trip crossed off the Panther Paws list!
Know Before You Go:
Where: Otranger Strasse, Fliessem, Germany 54636 (Note we used that address in our GPS and it took us past the entrance on the left and we had to turn around so keep your eyes open when your getting close and look for the sign)
How To Get There: It’s about a 15 minute drive from Spangdahlem, about 1 hour 22 mins from Ramstein.
What: Roman country house from 1 to 4 AD that was discovered and excavated in 1838.
Cost: Adults €3 and kids to age 17 €1,50 or Family of 2 adults & 2 kids €6
How long: Visit will probably take around 15-20 minutes.
Where to find info: Panther Paws, Above links
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