Top Historic Sights in Maastricht, Netherlands
Explore the historic highlights of Maastricht
Basilica of Saint Servatius
The present-day Basilica of Saint Servatius is probably the fourth church that was built on the site of the grave of Saint Servatius, an Armenian missionary who was bishop of Tongeren and died allegedly in 384 in Maastricht. A small memorial chapel on the saint's grave was replaced by a large stone church built by bishop Monulph around 570. This church was replaced by a larger pilgrim church in the late 7th century, which ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Maastricht, Netherlands
St. John's Church
St. John's Church (Sint-Janskerk), named after St.John the Baptist, was originally built as a baptistery for the St. Servatius Chapter of Maastricht. In 1633, after a period in which it functioned as an autonomous parish church, it came into the possession of the Dutch Reformed Church, established in 1632. This as a result of the capture of Maastricht from the Spanish army in 1632 by the troops of the Seven United Provinc ...
Founded: 14th century |
Location:
Maastricht, Netherlands
Maastricht Town Hall
The Maastricht Town Hall was built in the 17th century by Pieter Post and considered one of the highlights of Dutch Baroque architecture.
Founded: 17th century |
Location:
Maastricht, Netherlands
St. Servatius Bridge
St. Servatius Bridge (Sint Servaasbrug) connects pedestrian traffic from the Binnenstad district of Maastricht on the west bank of the Meuse to the Wyck district on the east bank. It is named after Saint Servatius, the first bishop of Maastricht, and (despite being largely rebuilt after World War II) it has been called the oldest bridge in the Netherlands. The bridge is made of limestone, and in its current configuration ...
Founded: 1280-1298 |
Location:
Maastricht, Netherlands
Basilica of Our Lady
The present-day Basilica of Our Lady is probably not the first church that was built on this site. However, since no archeological research has ever been carried out inside the building, nothing certain can be said about this. The church"s site, inside the Roman castrum and adjacent to a religious shrine dedicated to the god Jupiter, suggests that the site was once occupied by a Roman temple. It is not unlikely that the t ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Maastricht, Netherlands
Sint-Lambertuskerk
The Sint-Lambertuskerk was built between 1914 and 1916 and named after the Maastricht-born saint Lambert. At the time of its completion, it was the first church outside the old city wall. The church was designed by Hubert van Groenendael in neo-Romanesque style on a cruciform plan. The church was initially operated as a Roman Catholic parish church. Soon after its completion in 1916, subsidence cracks developed in the st ...
Founded: 1914-1916 |
Location:
Maastricht, Netherlands
Château Neercanne
Château Neercanne (also known as Agimont) was built on a site that was already in use by the Romans. The caves, created by mining blocks to build the fortifications, still exist. They are now in use as the wine cellar of Neercanne. In 1465 the castle was destroyed by the people of Liège during the Liège Wars. The outbuildings and the prominent corner tower were built in 1611, in the style of the Mosan ...
Founded: 1611-1698 |
Location:
Maastricht, Netherlands
Waldeck Bastion
Bastion Waldeck was built in 1690 and the star-shaped fort was heavily remodifed in 1773-1777. However there has been fortifications also before; the most well-known incident on the site was the death of D"Artagnan (one of The Three Musketeers written by Alexandre Dumas in 1844) during the siege of Maastricht in 1673.
Founded: 1690 |
Location:
Maastricht, Netherlands
Bethlehem Castle
Bethlehem Castle was built in the 13th century. In 1311 it became to possession of Teutonic Knights, who named the castle after Bethlehem in Holy Land. In 1796 the castle was confiscated by French revolutionary army and sold to the private hands again. Today the castle is a Hotel Management School.
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Maastricht, Netherlands
Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Photo from Flickr, copyright transitpeople
Historic Site of the week
Medieval Walls of Avila
The city walls of Avila were built in the 11th century to protect the citizens from the Moors. They have been well maintained throughout the centuries and are now a major tourist attraction as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visitors can walk around about half of the length of the walls.
The layout of the city is an even quadrilateral with a perimeter of 2,516 m. Its walls, which consist in part of stones already used in earlier constructions, have an average thickness of 3 m. Access to the city is afforded by nine gates of different periods; twin 20 m high towers, linked by a semi-circular arch, flank the oldest ones, Puerta de San Vicente and Puerta del Alcázar.