Travels to Maastricht

A few weeks ago  I traveled to Maastricht in the province of Limburg. Maastricht is very un-Dutch like in architecture and the dialect is also very different. Here are some photos of the historic city on Maas or Meuse River.

Train station at Maastricht

Grand Hotel across the street from the train station

Mariamonument  
One of many Catholic statues found in Maastricht

Mariamonument depicts Mary with the infant Jesus in her arms. The statue rests on a 9-meter-high column. The four bishops of the city, Servatius, Lambert, Monulphus and Hubert, recognizable by their badges, stand on the corners. The monument was created by Albert Termote.

Looking toward Maastricht from Ceramique. The Meuse or Maas is in the foreground 

Looking South at Maastricht on St. Servatius bridge

St. Servatius

Meuse with boats moored.

More swans looking for a handout

Minckeleers, Jan Pieter
Maastricht 1748 - 1824. Scientist

Jan Pieter Minckeleers was a Maastricht Jesuit who in 1771 became professor of Science at the Belgian university of Louvain. He discovered how to use coal gas for gas lamps and air balloons. In 1789 he had to return to his birth city for political reasons. He worked in Maastricht as a pharmaceutical chemist. He was also interested in meteorology, geology and paleontology. He wrote down a description of the Mosasaurus fossil that had been found in Mount St Pieter.

In Maastricht, Minckeleers’ statue stands at the Market side of the Boschstraat since 1904. The statue holds a gas pipe out of which burns an eternal flame. 

A bicycle with knitted coverings in front of yarn shop.

Stadhuis

Looking down Grote Gracht opposite of the Stadhuis 

Boats moored in the Bassin

The Basin is an ancient inland port in Maastricht that once housed warehouses but in the 90s , the port was completely refurbished now has restaurants, wine cellars and private yachts. 

Selexyz Dominican

This is the entrance to a bookstore that is located in a 700 year old Dominican church

Inside Selexyz bookstore

Inside Selexyz bookstore looking at the remains of the painted ceiling of the church

Vrihthof Square behind the Basilica of Saint Servatius and St. Jan (red tower)

Hawt Uuch Vas Fountain is located at Maastricht's central square, Vrijthof. It is related to Carnival and symbolizes community and spirit, fun and charity. The sculpture depicts five carnival figures, two men, two women and a child, in masks, dancing hand in hand around the fountain. 

One of many old walls.

The musketeer Charles de Batz-Castelmore, better known as d’Artagnan. He perished in 1673 during the siege of Maastricht by the armies of the French king Louis XIV. The inscription at the base is the famous saying "One for all, all for one." 

The Jekerkwartier is a neighbourhood in the old city center of Maastricht. The Jeker flows through the neighborhood before it enters the Maas. There is restoration work going on to allow fish to swim up stream.

Portal through the old city wall.

Not every where used windmills and in Maastricht there are several water powered mills still in use.

This is the watermill Leeuwenmolen and is located next to a private house

Here at the watermill Bisshopsmolen grain is still milled for the bakery next door. Free samples of the local bread were being handed out

The Basilica of Our Lady

The present-day church is not the first church that was built on this site. Since no archeological research has ever been carried out inside the present 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.

Our Lady, Star of the Sea chapel

Cafe next to the Onze-Lieve Vrouwplein