Off the Beaten Path - Bad Kreuznach Travel Guide

I can only highly recommend not only to visit the two spa towns while in the region, but also to spend some time exploring the region itself. The part of Rheinland Pfalz east of Bad Kreuznach is being called Rheinhessische Schweiz (= Switzerland of Rheinhessen) and it is a very lovely landscape with rolling hills and fields, enchanting little valleys, meadows and forests – perfect for hiking and bicycling. And, it is here where several strange structures can be found in the vineyards: trulli (photos 1-3). Yes, you have read properly, these are trulli, similar structures like the famous ones in Alberobello, , Puglia, Italy (UNESCO heritage). They were built in 18th century and it is said that it were in fact workers from Puglia who came here to work in the quarries nearby, who built these houses as their storage and meeting points. Today several of these trulli are dotted in the landscape around Flonheim, west of Alzey. The one I have in my photos is located next to Geistermühle (“ghost mill”), west of Flonheim, a winery and old mill, which offers wine tours and also sells wine. I will definitely visit this one during my next trips.

We found another special sight while we continued on our way to Bad Kreuznach: a lovely tower also inmidst the vineyards (photos 4 and 5). It is called Ajax Turm and goes with a lovely legend: a vintner was in love with the daughter of the local mill owner and always met her here, together with his trustful dog Ajax. But this love wasn’t meant to be, the daughter had to marry another miller and so the vintner had this tower built in memory of his dog Ajax. There is a statue on top of the tower (photo 4).

I didn’t take any photos of the landscape (the disadvantage of tarevlling by car, because inside the little valleys was no place to stop for a while), but for a good idea of how it looks like, look at the website with photos of this amazing landscape around Flonheim.

The website below is in German only, unfortunately :-(

Trullo on Google Maps
Ajax Turm on Google Maps

Coordinates on GoogleEarth (Trullo near Geistermühle):
49°46’34,04’’N; 08°01’01,09’’E

Coordinates on GoogleEarth (Ajax Turm):
49°47’19,91’’N; 07°55’46,20’’E

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