diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 32518e9..3ebe0fb 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -21,48 +21,84 @@
             <groupId>de.deepamehta</groupId>
             <artifactId>deepamehta-geomaps</artifactId>
             <version>4.4-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
         <!-- Neo4j -->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.neo4j</groupId>
             <artifactId>neo4j-kernel</artifactId>
             <version>1.8.1</version>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.neo4j</groupId>
+            <artifactId>neo4j-graph-collections</artifactId>
+            <version>0.4-neo4j-1.8.2</version>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
         <!-- Neo4j Spatial -->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.neo4j</groupId>
             <artifactId>neo4j-spatial</artifactId>
             <version>0.9.1-neo4j-1.8.2</version>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
+        <!-- GeoTools -->
         <dependency>
-            <groupId>org.neo4j</groupId>
-            <artifactId>neo4j-graph-collections</artifactId>
-            <version>0.4-neo4j-1.8.2</version>
+            <groupId>org.geotools</groupId>
+            <artifactId>gt-api</artifactId>
+            <version>8.0</version>
+            <scope>runtime</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.geotools</groupId>
-            <artifactId>gt-metadata</artifactId>
+            <artifactId>gt-opengis</artifactId>
             <version>8.0</version>
+            <scope>runtime</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.geotools</groupId>
-            <artifactId>gt-opengis</artifactId>
+            <artifactId>gt-metadata</artifactId>
             <version>8.0</version>
+            <scope>runtime</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.geotools</groupId>
             <artifactId>gt-referencing</artifactId>
             <version>8.0</version>
+            <scope>runtime</scope>
         </dependency>
+        <!-- -->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.vividsolutions</groupId>
             <artifactId>jts</artifactId>
             <version>1.12</version>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.jscience</groupId>
             <artifactId>jscience</artifactId>
             <version>4.3.1</version>
+            <scope>runtime</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <!-- Tinkerpop -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.tinkerpop.gremlin</groupId>
+            <artifactId>gremlin-java</artifactId>
+            <version>1.5</version>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.tinkerpop.gremlin</groupId>
+            <artifactId>gremlin-groovy</artifactId>
+            <version>1.5</version>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>com.tinkerpop</groupId>
+            <artifactId>pipes</artifactId>
+            <version>1.0</version>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
     </dependencies>
 
@@ -93,9 +129,10 @@
                         </Bundle-Activator>
                         <Import-Package>
                             org.neo4j.graphdb, org.neo4j.graphdb.traversal, org.neo4j.kernel, !org.neo4j.*,
-                            !com.tinkerpop.*,
+                            !com.tinkerpop.blueprints.*,
                             !org.geotools.*, !org.json.simple.*,
                             !au.com.objectix.jgridshift,
+                            !groovy.lang, !org.codehaus.groovy.*, !jline,
                             !org.apache.commons.collections, !org.apache.commons.pool.*, !org.apache.commons.logging.*,
                             !org.apache.commons.lang,
                             !org.apache.log4j,
@@ -103,8 +140,9 @@
                         </Import-Package>
                         <Embed-Dependency>
                             neo4j-spatial, neo4j-graph-collections,
-                            gt-metadata, gt-opengis, gt-referencing,
-                            jts, jscience
+                            gt-api, gt-opengis, gt-metadata, gt-referencing,
+                            jts, jscience,
+                            gremlin-java, gremlin-groovy, pipes
                         </Embed-Dependency>
                     </instructions>
                 </configuration>
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/deepamehta/plugins/geospatial/GeospatialPlugin.java b/src/main/java/de/deepamehta/plugins/geospatial/GeospatialPlugin.java
index f2182e2..5f44776 100644
--- a/src/main/java/de/deepamehta/plugins/geospatial/GeospatialPlugin.java
+++ b/src/main/java/de/deepamehta/plugins/geospatial/GeospatialPlugin.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package de.deepamehta.plugins.geospatial;
 
+import de.deepamehta.plugins.geospatial.service.GeospatialService;
 import de.deepamehta.plugins.geomaps.model.GeoCoordinate;
 
 import de.deepamehta.core.CompositeValue;
@@ -11,26 +12,48 @@
 import de.deepamehta.core.service.event.PostCreateTopicListener;
 import de.deepamehta.core.service.event.PostUpdateTopicListener;
 
+import org.neo4j.graphdb.Node;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.GraphDatabaseService;
+import org.neo4j.collections.rtree.NullListener;
 
 import org.neo4j.gis.spatial.SimplePointLayer;
+import org.neo4j.gis.spatial.SpatialDatabaseRecord;
 import org.neo4j.gis.spatial.SpatialDatabaseService;
+import org.neo4j.gis.spatial.pipes.GeoPipeFlow;
+import org.neo4j.gis.spatial.pipes.GeoPipeline;
 
-// ### import com.vividsolutions.jts.geom.Coordinate;
+import com.vividsolutions.jts.geom.Coordinate;
+import com.vividsolutions.jts.geom.Point;
 // ### import com.vividsolutions.jts.geom.Geometry;
 // ### import com.vividsolutions.jts.geom.GeometryFactory;
-// ### import com.vividsolutions.jts.geom.Point;
 
+import javax.ws.rs.GET;
+import javax.ws.rs.Path;
+import javax.ws.rs.PathParam;
+import javax.ws.rs.QueryParam;
+import javax.ws.rs.Produces;
+import javax.ws.rs.Consumes;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
 
 
 
-public class GeospatialPlugin extends PluginActivator implements PostCreateTopicListener, PostUpdateTopicListener {
+@Path("/geospatial")
+@Consumes("application/json")
+@Produces("application/json")
+public class GeospatialPlugin extends PluginActivator implements GeospatialService, PostCreateTopicListener,
+                                                                                    PostUpdateTopicListener {
 
     // ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Constants
 
     private static final String DEFAULT_LAYER_NAME = "dm4.geospatial.layer";
 
+    private static final String PROP_GEO_COORD_ID = "geo_coord_id";
+
     // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Instance Variables
 
     SimplePointLayer layer;
@@ -41,6 +64,43 @@ public class GeospatialPlugin extends PluginActivator implements PostCreateTopic
 
 
 
+    // ****************************************
+    // *** GeospatialService Implementation ***
+    // ****************************************
+
+
+
+    @GET
+    @Path("/{geo_coord}/distance/{distance}")
+    @Override
+    public List<Topic> getTopicsWithinDistance(@PathParam("geo_coord") GeoCoordinate geoCoord,
+                                               @PathParam("distance") double maxDistanceInKm) {
+        try {
+            // query geospatial index
+            Coordinate point = new Coordinate(geoCoord.lon, geoCoord.lat);
+            GeoPipeline spatialRecords = GeoPipeline.startNearestNeighborLatLonSearch(layer, point, maxDistanceInKm);
+                /* ### .sort("OrthodromicDistance") */
+            //
+            // build result
+            List<Topic> geoCoords = new ArrayList();
+            for (GeoPipeFlow spatialRecord : spatialRecords) {
+                // Note: long distance = spatialRecord.getProperty("OrthodromicDistance")
+                long geoCoordId = (Long) spatialRecord.getRecord().getGeomNode().getProperty(PROP_GEO_COORD_ID, -1L);
+                if (geoCoordId == -1) {
+                    Point p = (Point) spatialRecord.getGeometry();
+                    throw new RuntimeException("A spatial database record misses the \"" + PROP_GEO_COORD_ID +
+                        "\" property (lon=" + p.getX() + ", lat=" + p.getY() + ")");
+                }
+                geoCoords.add(dms.getTopic(geoCoordId, true));  // fetchComposite=true
+            }
+            return geoCoords;
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Quering the geospatial index failed", e);
+        }
+    }
+
+
+
     // ****************************
     // *** Hook Implementations ***
     // ****************************
@@ -52,7 +112,7 @@ public void init() {
         GraphDatabaseService neo4j = (GraphDatabaseService) dms.getDatabaseVendorObject();
         SpatialDatabaseService spatialDB = new SpatialDatabaseService(neo4j);
         //
-        //spatialDB.deleteLayer(DEFAULT_LAYER_NAME, null);
+        // spatialDB.deleteLayer(DEFAULT_LAYER_NAME, new NullListener());
         //
         if (spatialDB.containsLayer(DEFAULT_LAYER_NAME)) {
             logger.info("########## Default layer already exists (\"" + DEFAULT_LAYER_NAME + "\")");
@@ -91,7 +151,8 @@ private void indexIfGeoCoordinate(Topic topic) {
             GeoCoordinate geoCoord = geoCoordinate(topic);
             logger.info("########## Indexing Geo Coordinate " + topic.getId() + " (long=" + geoCoord.lon +
                 ", lat=" + geoCoord.lat + ")");
-            layer.add(geoCoord.lon, geoCoord.lat);
+            SpatialDatabaseRecord record = layer.add(geoCoord.lon, geoCoord.lat);
+            record.setProperty(PROP_GEO_COORD_ID, topic.getId());
         }
     }
 
@@ -103,4 +164,13 @@ private GeoCoordinate geoCoordinate(Topic geoCoordTopic) {
             comp.getDouble("dm4.geomaps.latitude")
         );
     }
+
+    // ### not used
+    private Map nodeProperties(Node node) {
+        Map props = new HashMap();
+        for (String key : node.getPropertyKeys()) {
+            props.put(key, node.getProperty(key));
+        }
+        return props;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/de/deepamehta/plugins/geospatial/service/GeospatialService.java b/src/main/java/de/deepamehta/plugins/geospatial/service/GeospatialService.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e4cd37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/de/deepamehta/plugins/geospatial/service/GeospatialService.java
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package de.deepamehta.plugins.geospatial.service;
+
+import de.deepamehta.plugins.geomaps.model.GeoCoordinate;
+
+import de.deepamehta.core.Topic;
+import de.deepamehta.core.service.PluginService;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+
+
+public interface GeospatialService extends PluginService {
+
+    List<Topic> getTopicsWithinDistance(GeoCoordinate geoCoord, double maxDistanceInKm);
+}