Located about a 40 minutes drive from Sippenaeken, we made a day trip into the city.
We entered Maastricht via one of the few fort walls that was built in the 13th century (which says a lot about how old the city is!) and walked into the town centre.
The oldest city gate (Helpoort or Hell’s Gate) in Netherlands is also located in Maastricht.
It’s also said that the Sint Serbaasbrug stone footbridge across the Meuse River is the oldest bridge in Netherlands.
The town of Maastricht is vibrant, partially due to it being a University town, and with its beautiful old historical centre and broad shopping possibilities, it also attracts numerous tourists especially on weekends.
In the Vrijthof (one of the 2 main squares), housed side-by-side is the St. Servaas Church and St. Jan’s Cathedral, one being a Protestant and the other a Catholic church, a sight not commonly seen in many places.
Pieter also brought me to a church that had since been converted to a bookstore, which I thought was really cool and had been elegantly done.
Apparently, there were many churches in the city, many of which cost too much to maintain and were left empty. A couple were subsequently converted for other uses, on the principle that the structure remains intact.
We also went to the Basilica of Our Lady, or also known as the Star of the Sea believed to lead sailors to safe harbour, where Pieter lit a candle for my safe journey.
The other famous square is The Markt, and houses the Town Hall, with weekly markets held on Wednesdays and Fridays.
We were there on a Thursday, so no markets were available on that day.
One of the biggest highlight of the trip to Maastricht was visiting the St. Peter’s caves, or more properly known as a quarry (limestone), which had over 20,000 tunnels across more than 80 km.
The visit had to be done on a guided tour, otherwise one could easily get lost within the numerous routes in the complex tunnel layout. Coincidentally, the guide who led the tour is a friend of Pieter, whom he had not met for a while.
She shared interesting insights and a lot of information about the different drawings that were found within the tunnels as well as the tunnel’s importance in history and was super interactive with the group.
Fossil remains of a dinosaur was also found here!
Driving further out from the city centre, we paid a quick visit to a Castle – Chateau Neercanne, located just a couple steps away from the Belgium border, before heading back home.
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