Roman Ruins in Mainz- October 25, 2013

This year in school we are studying Rome to the Protestant Reformation. As you can imagine it's a great season to homeschool in Europe as there are tons of field trips that continually provide opportunities to draw the kid's hearts towards history. Studying the history of this time period has really brought new life into studying Gods word for all of us.

The great thing about living in Germany (ok, one of the great things- I'm a sucker for the coffee, chocolate and bread too) is that there is so much history to be explored right outside our front door. Just 45 minutes south of our home,  in the city of Mainz, we were able to visit ancient Roman ruins from the time that the boundaries of the Roman empire reached into the region that we now call Germany. 

There girls are standing in front of the ruins of an ancient Roman bath

The baths up close. 

  We aren't sure the about this guy's story  but we thought that he needed a little company.

  Also not sure of this, but thought it was a great place for a picture.

 (just look at these lovelies- be still my heart.) 

 From 12 BC to 500 AD Mainz was the site of a Roman fortress.

 Here is where one of the city gates, which was built in approx 360 BC,  was located. 

 (and on a complete side note, this man still makes my heart swoon)

 Interestingly enough, the gate ruins can now be found right 

smack in the middle of an apartment complex.

Yes, these are my children who are trying to prior thousand 

year old stones from ancient ruins for a keepsake.

 Another site that we visited was the ruins of the Roman Aqua ducts 

built in 13 AD to fresh water into the Roman city. The remnants now

 include 58 of the original piers that once spanned  8 km. (about 5 miles)

 (oh. and this guy captures my heart, too)

 A cathedral spire in Mainz.

These Roman theatre ruins, that are also in Mainz, were discovered 

n the early 1900's while they were building a train station. According to

 historians it could hold 10,000 people. Impressive.

 The Drusus stone was a memorial built to honor the Roman general Drusus. 

Drusus son of  Tiberius Claudius Nero and step-son to Caeser Augustus.