Construction crew stumbles on centuries-old path used to parade royal jewels. See it

In a small town in southern Germany, a main road winds through the neatly arranged houses and shops. On the surface, the road might not look particularly exciting, but, underneath sits a long-forgotten relic of by-gone glory.

Road construction crews were doing work along Würzburger Street in Burgfarrnbach when they stumbled on the forgotten relic, according to a Nov. 29 news release from the Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection.

Below the modern-day road, workers found the remnants of a centuries-old boardwalk, archaeologists said. Photos show what remains of the wooden pathway.

Archaeologists found mentions of the boardwalk in several historical documents, officials said. A document from 1592 asked residents to maintain the wooden road and fix it when necessary.

The Holy Roman Empire also used the boardwalk in 1790 to parade its valuable royal jewels, officials said. The procession of horses and carriages passed through Burgfarrnbach with the imperial crown and treasures belonging to German royalty.

During the 1700s, Burgfarrnbach was an important stop for those traveling between nearby Nuremberg and Frankfurt to the southwest, officials said.

Burgfarrnbach is 240 miles southwest of Berlin.

Excavations of the boardwalk found wood planks dating to the 1770s, buttons, horseshoes and a silver coin, archaeologists said.

Eventually, officials said the boardwalk was likely expanded into a paved road and forgotten — until now.

Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection.

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