Maastricht (Dutch: [maːˈstrɪxt] (About this sound listen);[8] Limburgish (incl. Maastrichtian): Mestreech [məˈstʀeˑx]; French: Maestricht (archaic); Spanish: Mastrique (archaic)) is a city and a municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the Meuse river (Dutch: Maas), at the point where the Jeker river joins it. It is adjacent to the border with Belgium.
Maastricht developed from a Roman settlement to a Medieval religious centre. In the 16th century it became a garrison town and in the 19th century an early industrial city. Today, the town is a thriving cultural and regional hub. It became well-known through the Maastricht Treaty and as the birthplace of the euro.[10] Maastricht has 1677 national heritage buildings (Rijksmonumenten), the second highest number in the Netherlands, after Amsterdam. The town is popular with tourists for shopping and recreation, and has a large international student population. Maastricht is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network and is part of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion, which includes nearby German and Belgian cities Aachen, Eupen, Hasselt, Liège and Tongeren. The Meuse-Rhine Euroregion is a metropolis with a population of about 3.9 million with several international universities.
Maastricht, gemeente (municipality), southeastern Netherlands. It lies along the Meuse (Maas) River at the junction of the Juliana, Liège-Maastricht, and Zuid-Willems canals. Maastricht is the principal city in the southeastern appendix of The Netherlands and is only 2 miles (3 km) from the Belgian border.
It was the site of the Roman settlement Trajectum ad Mosam (“Ford on the Meuse”) and was later the seat of a bishop from 382 to 721. The town was held by the dukes of Brabant after 1204, coming under the joint sovereignty of Brabant and the prince-bishops of Liège in 1284 and of Liège and the Dutch Estates-General in 1632. It was taken by the Spanish in 1579, by Prince Frederick Henry of Orange in 1632, and by the French in 1673, 1748, and 1794, but it successfully resisted the Belgians in 1830–32. Portions of its old fortifications—Helpoort (1229), the Pater Fink Tower, and 16th- and 17th-century bastions—remain. Attacked on the first day of the German invasion of the Low Countries in 1940, Maastricht was the first Dutch town to be liberated, in 1944. Following a 1991 meeting of the European Communities that was held in Maastricht, an accord (known as the Maastricht Treaty) was signed calling for the establishment of a European Union, with common policies on economics, foreign affairs, security, and immigration.
Helpoort in Maastricht
The Pater Fink TowerMaastricht’s landmarks include the St. Servatius Bridge (c. 1280) over the Meuse; the Dinghuis, or former courthouse (c. 1475); and the town hall (1658–64). The cathedral, dedicated to St. Servatius, was founded by Bishop Monulphus in the 6th century; it is the oldest church in The Netherlands, although rebuilt and enlarged from the 11th to the 15th century. The Protestant Church of St. John, with a 246-foot (75-metre) tower, originally served as its parish church. The much-restored Church of Our Lady has remnants of 10th-century crypts. There are many other medieval churches, as well as fine houses in regional Renaissance and French styles. Maastricht is the site of the University of Limburg (1976), a music conservatory, a symphony orchestra, art academies, and several museums.
To the south are the sandstone (marl) quarries of St. Pietersberg, comprising more than 200 miles (322 km) of underground man-made passages worked from Roman times to the 19th century. They served to hide peasants and cattle during the wars with Spain and art treasures and refugees during World War II. There are four castles in the neighbourhood of Maastricht.
The St. Pietersberg in MaastrichtAn early trade was carried on in cloth, leather, hardware, and building materials. Until the coming of the railways in 1853, however, Maastricht did not reap the full advantages of its central position between the mining and industrial cities of Heerlen and Kampen (both in The Netherlands), Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle; in Germany), and Liège (in Belgium). Its manufactures now include pottery, glass, crystal, cement, and paper. Tourism and printing are important, and there is a trade in beer, grain, vegetables, and butter. Pop. (2007 est.) 119,038.
Because of its eccentric location in the southeastern Netherlands, and its geographical and cultural proximity to Belgium and Germany, integration of Maastricht and Limburg into the Netherlands did not come about easily. Maastricht retained a distinctly non-Dutch appearance during much of the 19th century and it was not until the First World War that the city was forced to look northwards.
20th century and onwardsEarly in World War II, the city was taken by the Germans during the Battle of Maastricht in May 1940. On 13 and 14 September 1944 it was the first Dutch city to be liberated by Allied forces. The three Meuse bridges were destroyed or severely damaged during the war. As elsewhere in the Netherlands, the majority of Maastricht Jews died in Nazi concentration camps.
During the latter half of the century, traditional industries (such as the famous Maastricht potteries) declined and the city shifted to a service economy. Maastricht University was founded in 1976. Several European institutions have found their base in Maastricht. In 1992, the Maastricht Treaty was negotiated and signed here, leading to the creation of the European Union and the euro.
In recent years, under mayor Gerd Leers, Maastricht launched a campaign against drug-related problems. Leers instigated a controversial plan to relocate some of the cannabis coffee shops—where the purchase of soft drugs in limited quantities is tolerated—from the city centre to the outskirts, in an attempt to stop foreign buyers from causing trouble in the downtown area. Although the so-called "coffee corner plan" has not been entirely abandoned, the new mayor Onno Hoes has given priority to the Dutch government's approach of limiting entrance to 'coffee shops' to Dutch adults only, and to tackle the problem of drug runners in cooperation with the city of Rotterdam (where the majority of drug runners are from).
Large parts of the city centre have been redeveloped, including the area around the main railway station, the main shopping streets, the Entre Deux and Mosae Forum shopping centres, and the Maasboulevard promenade along the Meuse. Also, a new quarter, including the new Bonnefanten Museum, a public library, a theatre and several housing blocks designed by international architects, was built on the grounds of the former Céramique potteries near the town centre. As a result, Maastricht looks notably smarter. Further large-scale projects, such as the redevelopment of the Sphinx and Belvédère areas, are underway.
