Archaeologists were excavating a Roman temple dated back almost 2,000 years that had been found almost intact in the east of the Netherlands, the Dutch national cultural heritage agency reported on Monday.
“Never before has a site with temple building, altars and sacrificial remains that is so intact been found in the Netherlands,’’ the agency said.
The temple lies near Nijmegen on the border with Germany, where the Limes – marking the Roman Empire’s northern border and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site – once ran.
Amateur archaeologists found items from the site in the village of Herwen-Hemeling at the end of 2021 and informed the authorities.
Further investigation found the site near a hill. During the Roman era, there were at least two temples, where soldiers stationed here between the first and fourth centuries, made offerings to their gods.
Archaeologists have exposed the temple remains, uncovering sacrificial sites, numerous small altars, statuettes of gods and painted walls.
Parts of the findings were to be exhibited in a museum in Nijmegen from Saturday.
Of particular interest were a number of small stone altars on which the soldiers made votive offering to Hercules Magusanus, Jupiter-Serapis and Mercury.