They planted the first wine on the Moselle 2000 years ago. Today, the winegrowers offer their products for tasting during the Saarland Wine Summer. The largest Roman mosaic floor north of the Alps in the reception hall of what was once a huge palace and the Roman villa in Borg offer impressions of the splendour of Roman life. Here, an entire estate with a functioning bath and tavern has been completely reconstructed.
The route begins at the railway station in Perl in the immediate vicinity of the banks of the Moselle opposite the European town of Schengen in Luxembourg. Through Perl and the picturesque wine village of Sehndorf with its stately vineyards, the route leads through vineyards and orchards up to the Saargau. In Borg, the Roman Villa is the first highlight of the Roman Tour. It is the only completely reconstructed manor area of an ancient villa complex; even in Italy, the heartland of the Roman Empire, there is nothing comparable. With its gatehouse, museum-like manor house, Roman baths, latrine, Roman kitchen, craftsmen's huts and Roman gardens, the Villa Borg is the ideal setting for experiencing everyday life in Rome. At the end of the tour, an original Roman dish such as spicy Lucanian sausages awaits you in the tavern. From Borg, the route continues via Oberleuken to Kesslingen. Passing the restored Jakobsbrunnen fountain, a gourmet station with regional delicacies awaits you at the Kesslingen refuge to familiarise yourself with the flowing delights of the region. The listed village chapel of St James dates back to the 18th century with its ornate slate tower, late Gothic choir and neo-Gothic portal from the 19th century with a split spire (tent roof, continued on eight sides with onion domes, lanterns and spire) and a wooden column altar with a Roman inscription stone as the base of the altar. A group of figures made of oak wood depicts the "seven sleepers" and reminds us of Keßlingen as a place of pilgrimage in earlier times. The Keßlingen chapel is closely linked to the Way of St James through its patron saint, St James. In 2014, a group from Keßlingen travelled to Compostella with several tractors.
Via Faha and Tettingen-Butzdorf with the Saarland Distillery Museum, the route leads back over the heights of the Saargau with sweeping views as far as Luxembourg. Finally, the route descends back into the Moselle valley. The Roman Villa in Nennig is another highlight. Covering an area of 160 square metres, the mosaic there is made up of over 3 million tesserae and still impresses today with its realism and richness of detail. The mosaic is one of the most important examples of Roman art north of the Alps. The tour then leads along the Moselle back to Perl railway station, where you can relax and recap the tour over a glass of Perl wine.
