Xanten, Klever Tor

@Michael Skorulski: And this is just the inner part! Its outer part has two massive towers! Quite impressive sight!

@Observing: It's a really nice city. Even its outer parts are relatively quiet and not the common traffic deserts that are so typical here.

@Tracey: I'm afraid the waiting list is very long... ;-)

@Anthony Lambert: Yes, I did, but I'm not that satisfied with the results. It was a really blinding day and the few monuments appear rather overexposed. I will have to do some post-processing here.
You have to know that all the buildings you can visit there are complete reconstructions, almost everything of the ancient structure (especially that good marble!) went into the medieval city of Xanten. Some artefacts (gravestones, parts of the canalization, odds and ends) can still be seen in the APX area and in a small museum. The new buildings are quite interesting, though, and the rebuilt amphitheatre is often used for open air events in the summer.

@JoeB: That are really nice houses, but I'm afraid they are awfully small. For some touristic reasons they got their refurbishment, but this is not always the case. There are less known cities (Zons, also a medieval site) that are less beautiful where you can have an impression of constriction, solitariness and perishability. There must be a reason why people left (and still leave) these old towns and emigrate to other countries.

@MaryB: Yes, that are two women chatting at a water pump and a little boy playing with a bucket. A quite typical sculpture, you'll find this in almost every city here.

@Steven: Thanks Steven! These colourful medieval houses were indeed a surprise, I visited another old town just the day before my Xanten visit and it was rather colourless.

@Japanalia: This building has been temporarily used as a prison :) I hope they combined some of the former jail cells to make the hotel rooms large enough :-D

@Michael: Ist hübsch! Absolutes Highlight ist natürlich der Dom! ;-)