Nijmegen Walking 4 Day Day 1: Elst's day

The Nijmegen Four Day Walking Event - in full the International Four Day Distance Marches Nijmegen - is a household name. Would you like to see the beautiful routes that the runners take by bike? Which can! Route.nl has plotted cycling routes along the route of the longest daily distances of the Four Days Marches! The Four Days Marches has a different route every day through Gelderland, Brabant or Limburg, in the wider area surrounding the city of Nijmegen. Each walking day focuses on a different place in the Nijmegen area. The first walking day is called The Day of Elst, the second The Day of Wijchen, the third The Day of Groesbeek and finally the fourth The Day of Cuijk. This route leads you through the beautiful landscape of Elst and is therefore called The Day of Elst; the route of day one of the Four Days Marches. Here you cycle through the municipality of Overbetuwe in Gelderland, in the middle of the Arnhem-Nijmegen city region. The Lower Rhine forms the northern border, on the south side it is the Waal. The eastern part of the municipality is a dynamic area between Arnhem and Nijmegen, but the western part of the municipality is an area with a more rural character. This region has a rich history: this area has always been inhabited since the Stone Age, about 4000 years BC. Many sites are known from the Iron Age and Roman times, such as the Roman temples of Elst. There was an open-air sanctuary on the site of the Grote Kerk in prehistoric times, after which the Romans built one of the largest Gallo-Roman temples north of the Alps here. The first Christian church built here dates back to the 8th century. According to the stories, this was founded by Saint Werenfridus. Be sure to take a look at the Church Museum in Elst, with the remains of a Gallo-Roman temple from around 50 AD. and the large Gallo-Roman temple from about 100 AD. You will also find remains of a hall church from the eighth century with extensions from the tenth and eleventh centuries, including a crypt. The current Gothic church is also beautiful: it dates from the fifteenth century. It is special to realize that it is located on a 2000 year old cult site. Valburg, which you cycle through on this route, also has a rich history. It is already mentioned in Carolingian times, in 793. It was then called Falburc Marca. The church can boast a venerable age: colorful murals from the Middle Ages were discovered during repairs in the 19th and 20th centuries. You will discover a completely different history in the Historical Garden'De Lentse Warmoezenier\\\', a unique place in Lent where you can experience how the former'Warmmoezeniers\\\' cultivated. A caretaker ensured that as many products as possible could be grown throughout the year, which were then sold on the market in Nijmegen or Arnhem. Until the 1950s, the farm offered a typical way of living and working to the gardener's families. Nowadays there are still many special fruit varieties and real Lenten vegetables to be found. In addition to the vegetable garden, you will find an orchard, grape greenhouse, apiary and animal pasture. There is also a museum, where you can learn how the residents of Lent and the surrounding area lived and where archaeological finds can be admired. This area is so rich in history!