Friday 17th and Saturday 18th October 2025
Moving back across the border into Germany, we have moved on further north to the Moselle river valley (German spelling “Mosel”). This is a predominantly wine-growing area and we are staying on a motorhome site which is within a vineyard, right next to the river. On the Friday evening, we had a wander around the local village of Longuich, then on Saturday, we had a bike-ride along the Mosel cycle path, which is mostly right alongside the river.
The architecture in this area is quite different and the styles disguise the age of some of the buildings, many of which are 17th century.
In the 15th century, this area played a big role in the witch hunts and trials following the “Witch Bull” (1484) of Pope Innocent VIII, which listed all the crimes and misdeeds committed by witches. The villages of Longuich and neighbouring Kirsch, suffered severely with approximately 80 people accused and executed. Confessions were extracted by severe repeated torture; death was frequently by burning. The accused and their family had to bear the cost of the trial and it is known that the accusers enriched themselves in this way.
We visited the village church which is quite plain on the outside, but highly ornate within:
Longuich has a long history, dating back to Roman times. In fact there is a Roman villa close to the village which has to some extent been restored.
On Friday evening we watched huge barges and a river-cruise ship pass along the river:
Our cycle ride on Saturday, took us north-easterly, downstream along the river bank.
The landscape here is just beautiful, especially with all the autumn colours.
We came across this stone statue of St. Francis of Assisi facing the river. It was acquired by Trier fishermen from a monastery in 1802 and placed here to watch over and safeguard them, as this part of the river is feared because of its shallows. I hope it worked.
A little further along, there is a huge lock. We watched one of the enormous barges being lowered. It must have been around 100 metres long.
Leaving the river temporarily, we passed through the middle of vineyard fields and back through another village, Köwerich:
There are many Roman remains in the area:
On our way back through Mehring, we visited another Roman villa which had partially been restored:
As always, if you want to view any of the images larger, just click on it and it should open in a new tab (on a computer, anyway).
After a 20 mile bike-ride, that is all for today, TTFN and see-u-later.
"See-u-Later" 