Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse

Meuse River

The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...

 river (Dutch: Maas) in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, on the Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 border (with both the Dutch-speaking Flemish

Flemish Region

The Flemish Region is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region. Colloquially, it is usually simply referred to as Flanders, of which it is the institutional iteration within the context of the Belgian political system...

 and French-speaking Walloon region within easy reach from the city centre) and near the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 border. The city is part of the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion

Meuse-Rhine Euroregion

The Meuse-Rhine Euregion is a Euroregion created in 1976, with judicial status achieved in 1991. It comprises 11.000 km² and has around 3.9 million inhabitants around the city-corridor of Aachen-Maastricht-Hasselt-Liège...

, the Euregio

EUREGIO

EUREGIO is a cross-border region between the Netherlands and Germany. It was founded in 1958 and is organized as an Eingetragener Verein. Participating communities are in Niedersachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany and parts of the Dutch provinces Gelderland, Overijssel and Drenthe...

that includes Aachen

Aachen

Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

, Hasselt

Hasselt

Hasselt is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital of the Flemish province of Limburg...

 and Liège

Liège

Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....

 in respectively Germany and Belgium.

Etymology

The name Maastricht is derived from Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 Trajectum ad Mosam (or Mosae Trajectum), meaning 'crossing at the Meuse', and referring to the bridge built by the Romans

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 during the reign of Augustus Caesar. The Latin name first appears in medieval documents and it is not known whether this was Maastricht's official name during Roman times.

'Oldest city in the Netherlands' dispute

There is some debate as to whether Maastricht is the oldest city in the Netherlands. Some people consider Nijmegen the oldest, mainly because it was the first settlement in the Netherlands to receive Roman city rights

Municipium

Municipium , the prototype of English municipality, was the Latin term for a town or city. Etymologically the municipium was a social contract between municipes, the "duty holders," or citizens of the town. The duties, or munera, were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for...

. Maastricht never did, but it may be considerably older as a settlement. In addition, Maastricht can claim uninterrupted habitation since Roman times. A large number of archeological finds confirms this. Nijmegen has a gap in its history: there is practically no evidence of habitation in the early Middle Ages.

Early history

Neanderthal

Neanderthal

The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...

 remains have been found to the west of Maastricht (Belvédère excavations). Of a later date are Paleolithic

Paleolithic

The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...

 remains, between eight and 25 thousand years old. Celts lived here 500 years before the Romans came, at a spot where the river Meuse

Meuse

Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

 was shallow and therefore easy to cross.
The Romans built a bridge over the Meuse, and a road that connected Bavay

Bavay

Bavay is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies 15 m. ESE of Valenciennes by railway.-History:Under the name of Bagacum or Bavacum, the town was the capital of the Nervii and, under the Roman Empire, an important center of roads, the meeting-place of which was marked by a...

 and Tongeren, the capitals of the Nervians and Tungri, with Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, the capital of the Ubians. Roman Maastricht was probably small. Remains of the bridge, walls, a religious shrine, a granary

Granary

A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries, pottery is the most common use of storage in these buildings. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals.-Early origins:From ancient times grain...

 and a Roman bath have been excavated.

The Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

n-born Saint Servatius

Saint Servatius

Saint Servatius was bishop of Tongeren—Roman Atuatuca Tungrorum the capital of the Tungri—one of the earliest dioceses in the Low Countries. Later in his life he fled to Maastricht, Roman Mosae Trajectum, where he became the first bishop of this city...

 was the first bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of Maastricht. Allegedly, he built the first church on the site of a roman temple within the Roman castrum, the site of the present-day Basilica of Our Lady

Basilica of Our Lady (Maastricht)

The Roman catholic Basilica of Our Lady is a Romanesque basilica in Maastricht, The Netherlands, dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. The church is often referred to as the Star of the Sea, after the church's main devotion, Our Lady, Star of the Sea...

. The city remained an early Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 diocese

Diocese

A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...

 until it lost this position in the 8th century to nearby Liège.

Middle Ages

In the early Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 Maastricht was, along with Aachen

Aachen

Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

, part of the heartland of the Carolingian Empire

Carolingian Empire

Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...

. In the 12th century the town flourished culturally. The two main churches were largely rebuilt and redecorated. Maastricht Romanesque stone sculpture is regarded as one of the highlights of Mosan art

Mosan art

Mosan art is a regional style of art from the valley of the Meuse in present-day Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Although the term applies to art from this region from all periods, it generally refers to Romanesque art, with Mosan Romanesque architecture, stone carving, metalwork, enamelling...

. Around the same time, the poet Henric van Veldeke wrote a legend of Saint Servatius, one of the earliest works in Dutch literature

Dutch literature

Dutch literature comprises all writings of literary merit written through the ages in the Dutch language, a language which currently has around 23 million native speakers...

.

Shortly after 1200 the city received dual authority

Condominium (international law)

In international law, a condominium is a political territory in or over which two or more sovereign powers formally agree to share equally dominium and exercise their rights jointly, without dividing it up into 'national' zones.Although a condominium has always been...

, with both the bishops of Liège and the dukes of Brabant

Duchy of Brabant

The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...

 holding joint sovereignty over the city. Maastricht received city rights

City rights in the Netherlands

City rights are a medieval phenomenon in the history of the Low Countries. A liegelord, usually a count, duke or similar member of high nobility, granted a settlement he owned certain town privileges that settlements without city rights did not have....

 in 1204. Soon afterwards the first ring of Medieval walls were built. Throughout the Middle Ages, the city remained an important centre for trade and manufacturing (wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

, leather

Leather

Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

), although gradually economic decline set in. After a brief period of economic prosperity in the 15th century, the city's economy suffered during the wars of religion of the 16th and 17th centuries, and recovery did not happen until the industrial revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

 in the early 19th century.

In 1579 the city was sacked by the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 army under general Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma

Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma

Alexander Farnese was Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1586 to 1592, and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1578 to 1592.-Biography:...

. For over fifty years the Spanish crown took over the role of the dukes of Brabant in Maastricht. In 1632 the Spanish were replaced by the Dutch States General when the city was conquered by Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange

Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange

Frederick Henry, or Frederik Hendrik in Dutch , was the sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel from 1625 to 1647.-Early life:...

.

Bulwark of the Netherlands

The important strategic location of Maastricht in the Dutch Republic

Dutch Republic

The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...

 resulted in the construction of an impressive array of fortifications around the city during the 16th-19th centuries. The Spanish and Dutch garrison

Garrison

Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....

s were an important factor in the city's economy.

An important event, known as the Siege of Maastricht

Siege of Maastricht

The Siege of Maastricht was one of the key elements in King Louis XIV's plans to attack the Netherlands, in order to revenge the humiliating conditions enforced on him by the Triple Alliance when he tried to fully conquer the Spanish Netherlands...

, took place in 1673 during the Franco-Dutch War

Franco-Dutch War

The Franco-Dutch War, often called simply the Dutch War was a war fought by France, Sweden, the Bishopric of Münster, the Archbishopric of Cologne and England against the United Netherlands, which were later joined by the Austrian Habsburg lands, Brandenburg and Spain to form a quadruple alliance...

. In June 1673, Louis XIV laid siege of the city because French battle supply lines were being threatened. During this siege, Vauban

Vauban

Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...

, the famous French military engineer, developed a new strategy in order to break down the strong fortifications surrounding Maastricht. His systematic approach remained the standard method of attacking fortresses until the 20th century. On 25 June 1673, while preparing to storm the city, Captain-Lieutenant Charles de Batz de Castelmore, also known as Comte d'Artagnan

D'Artagnan

Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, Comte d'Artagnan served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard and died at the Siege of Maastricht in the Franco-Dutch War. A fictionalized account of his life by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras formed the basis for the d'Artagnan Romances of...

, was killed by a musket shot outside Tongerse Poort. This event was immortalized in Alexandre Dumas'

Alexandre Dumas, père

Alexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...

 novel The Vicomte de Bragelonne

The Vicomte de Bragelonne

The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later is a novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is the third and last of the d'Artagnan Romances, following The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After. It appeared first in serial form between 1847 and 1850...

, part of the D'Artagnan Romances

D'Artagnan Romances

The d'Artagnan Romances are a set of three novels by Alexandre Dumas telling the story of the musketeer d'Artagnan from his humble beginnings in Gascony to his death as a marshal of France in the Siege of Maastricht in 1673....

 (D'Artagnan is one of the Mousquetaires du Roi ('Three Musketeers') in this series).

French troops occupied Maastricht from 1673 to 1678. It was subsequently restored to Dutch rule but in 1748 the French again took the city after the Second Siege of Maastricht

Siege of Maastricht (1748)

The Siege of Maastricht took place in April-May 1748 during the War of the Austrian Succession. A French force under the overall command of Maurice de Saxe besieged and captured the Dutch barrier fortress of Maastricht in the final few months of the campaign in the Low Countries. After a relatively...

 during the War of Austrian Succession. The French returned once more in 1794, when Maastricht was annexed and became a French city of what would become the First French Empire

First French Empire

The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...

. For 20 years Maastricht was the capital of the French département of Meuse-Inférieure

Meuse-Inférieure

Meuse-Inférieure is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. It is named after the river Meuse. Its capital was Maastricht....

.

Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands

After the Napoleonic era

Napoleonic Era

The Napoleonic Era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislative Assembly, and the third being the Directory...

, Maastricht became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands

United Kingdom of the Netherlands

United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name used to refer to Kingdom of the Netherlands during the period after it was first created from part of the First French Empire and before the new kingdom of Belgium split out in 1830...

 in 1815. It was made capital of the newly formed Province of Limburg. When the southern provinces of the new kingdom subsequently seceded in the Belgian Revolution

Belgian Revolution

The Belgian Revolution was the conflict which led to the secession of the Southern provinces from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and established an independent Kingdom of Belgium....

 (1830), the Dutch garrison

Garrison

Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....

 in Maastricht remained loyal to the Dutch king, William I of the Netherlands

William I of the Netherlands

William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....

, even though the surrounding area came under Belgian control. Arbitration by the Great Powers in 1831 allocated the city to the Netherlands. However, neither the Dutch nor the Belgians agreed to this and it was not until the 1839 Treaty of London

Treaty of London, 1839

The Treaty of London, also called the First Treaty of London or the Convention of 1839, was a treaty signed on 19 April 1839 between the European great powers, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Belgium. It was the direct follow-up of the 1831 'Treaty of the XXIV Articles'...

 that the arrangement became permanent.

Because of its eccentric location in the Netherlands, and its geographical and cultural proximity to Belgium, integration of Maastricht and Limburg into the Netherlands did not come about easily. Due to its proximity to the Walloon industrial basin, Industrialisation

Industrialisation

Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...

 happened earlier in Maastricht than in other Dutch cities. 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

Maastricht did not escape the ravages of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. It was quickly taken by the Germans

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 during the Battle of Maastricht

Battle of Maastricht

The Battle of Maastricht was one of the first battles that took place during the German Campaign on the Western Front. Maastricht was a key city in order to capture the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael and split the allied armies in half.-Prelude:...

 in May 1940, but on 14 September 1944 it was also the first Dutch city to be liberated by allied forces

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

. The three Meuse bridges were destroyed or severely damaged during the war.

The latter half of the century saw the decline of the traditional industries and a shift to a service economy

Service economy

Service economy can refer to one or both of two recent economic developments. One is the increased importance of the service sector in industrialized economies. Services account for a higher percentage of US GDP than 20 years ago...

. Maastricht University was founded in 1976. In 1992, the Maastricht treaty

Maastricht Treaty

The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...

 was negotiated and signed here, leading to the creation of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 and the euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

.

21st century

In recent years, under Gerd Leers, who was mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 from 2005 to 2010, Maastricht launched a campaign against drug-related problems. Leers instigated a controversial plan to move several of the coffee shops

Cannabis coffee shop

Coffeeshops are establishments in the Netherlands where the sale of cannabis for personal consumption by the public is tolerated by the local authorities ....

 - where the purchase of soft drugs in limited quantities is tolerated - from the city centre to locations on the outskirts of town, in a bid to stop (foreign) buyers from causing trouble in the city center. Unsurprisingly, this coffee corner plan did not go over well with neighbouring municipalities.

On a positive note, large parts of the city centre were thoroughly refurbished under mayor Leers, including the area near the main railway station, the Markt (market square), the Entre Deux and Mosae Forum shopping centres and the Maasboulevard (a promenade along the Meuse). Maastricht looks notably smarter as a result, and further large-scale projects are underway, such as the redevelopment of the Sphinx and Belvédère areas.

Sights of Maastricht

Maastricht is known for its picturesque squares, romantic streets, and historical buildings. The tourist information office (VVV) is located in the Dinghuis, a 15th-century former town hall and law courts building on the corner of Grote Staat and Kleine Staat.
The main sights include:

• City Fortifications, including:
  • Helpoort - a 13th century town gate, the oldest in the Netherlands.
  • fragments of the first and second medieval city walls.
  • Hoge Fronten (or Linie van Du Moulin) - remnants of 17th and 18th century fortifications with a number of well-preserved bastions and an early 19th century fortress Fort Willem.
  • Casemate
    Casemate
    A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
    
    s - underground network of tunnels, built as sheltered emplacements for guns and cannons. These tunnels run for several miles underneath the city's fortifications. Guided tours available.

• Binnenstad - inner city shopping district, including Grote and Kleine Staat, and high-end shopping street Stokstraat. Maastricht is also well known for its cafés, pubs and restaurants.
  • Dinghuis - Medieval courthouse with an early Renaissance façade.
  • Entre Deux - a recently rebuilt shopping centre which has won several international awards. It includes a book store located inside a former 13th century Dominican church. In 2008, British newspaper The Guardian
    The Guardian
    The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
    
     proclaimed this the world's most beautiful bookshop.

• Vrijthof - the best-known square in the city. Sights:
  • Sint-Servaas Basiliek
    Basilica of Saint Servatius
    The Roman catholic Basilica of Saint Servatius, situated in Maastricht at the Vrijthof square, is a mainly Romanesque church dedicated to Saint Servatius.- History :...
    
    - Romanesque church of Saint Servatius
    Saint Servatius
    Saint Servatius was bishop of Tongeren—Roman Atuatuca Tungrorum the capital of the Tungri—one of the earliest dioceses in the Low Countries. Later in his life he fled to Maastricht, Roman Mosae Trajectum, where he became the first bishop of this city...
    
    . The tomb of Saint Servatius
    Saint Servatius
    Saint Servatius was bishop of Tongeren—Roman Atuatuca Tungrorum the capital of the Tungri—one of the earliest dioceses in the Low Countries. Later in his life he fled to Maastricht, Roman Mosae Trajectum, where he became the first bishop of this city...
    
     in the crypt is a favoured place of pilgrimage: Pope John Paul II
    Pope John Paul II
    Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
    
     visited here in 1985.
  • Sint-Janskerk - sandstone Gothic church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist with distinctive red tower.
  • Theater aan het Vrijthof - main city theatre with Neoclassical
    Neoclassical architecture
    Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
    
     façade.

• Onze Lieve Vrouweplein - picturesque tree-lined square with an abundance of pavement cafes. Sights:
  • Basilica of Our Lady
    Basilica of Our Lady (Maastricht)
    The Roman catholic Basilica of Our Lady is a Romanesque basilica in Maastricht, The Netherlands, dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. The church is often referred to as the Star of the Sea, after the church's main devotion, Our Lady, Star of the Sea...
    
    - 11th-century church.
  • Derlon Museumkelder - a small museum in the basement of hotel Derlon with Roman remains.

• Markt - the Market Square was completely refurbished in 2006-2007 and is now virtually traffic free. Sights include:
  • Town hall - built in the 17th century by Pieter Post
    Pieter Post
    Pieter Jansz Post was a Dutch Golden Age architect, painter and printmaker.-Biography:...
    
    .
  • Mosae Forum - a brand new shopping center and civic building designed by Jo Coenen
    Jo Coenen
    Jo Coenen is a Dutch architect and urban planner. He studied architecture at the Eindhoven University of Technology , and later held professorships at TU Karlsruhe, Eindhoven University of Technology and Delft University of Technology.Between 2000 and 2004 Coenen was Chief Government Architect of...
    
     and Bruno Albert. Citroën Miniature Cars, the world's largest exposition of Citroën
    Citroën
    Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
    
     miniature cars, is inside the Mosae Forum parking garage below the square.

• Bassin - a restored early 19th century inner harbor with restaurants and cafés. The surroundings are currently being developed into a cultural hotspot.

• Jekerkwartier
  Jekerkwartier
  The Jekerkwartier is a neighbourhood in the old city centre of Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands. It is named after the Jeker river that flows through the neighbourhood into the Meuse.-Impressions:...
  
  - a picturesque neighbourhood with the small river Jeker popping up between old houses and remnants of city walls.
  • Natural History Museum
    Maastricht Natural History Museum
    The Maastricht Natural History Museum is a natural history museum in the Dutch city of Maastricht. The museum is located in a former monastery complex called Grauwzusters in the historic district Jekerkwartier.The collection is dedicated to the geology, paleontology, flora and fauna of South...
    
    .

• Wyck - the old quarter on the right bank of the Meuse river. Rechtstraat is the main shopping street in Wyck with a mix of specialty shops, art galleries and restaurants.

• Céramique - a modern neighbourhood on the site of the former Céramique potteries. Now a showcase of architectural highlights:
  • Bonnefanten Museum
    Bonnefanten Museum
    The Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, Netherlands is the foremost museum of fine art and contemporary art in the province of Limburg.-History:The museum was founded in 1884 as the historical and archaeological museum of the Dutch province of Limburg...
    
     by Aldo Rossi
    Aldo Rossi
    Aldo Rossi was an Italian architect and designer who accomplished the unusual feat of achieving international recognition in four distinct areas: theory, drawing, architecture and product design.-Early life:...
    
    .
  • Centre Céramique (public library and exhibition space) by Jo Coenen
    Jo Coenen
    Jo Coenen is a Dutch architect and urban planner. He studied architecture at the Eindhoven University of Technology , and later held professorships at TU Karlsruhe, Eindhoven University of Technology and Delft University of Technology.Between 2000 and 2004 Coenen was Chief Government Architect of...
    
    .
  • La Fortezza by Mario Botta
    Mario Botta
    Mario Botta is a Swiss architect. He studied at the Liceo Artistico in Milan and the IUAV in Venice. His ideas were influenced by Le Corbusier, Carlo Scarpa, Louis Kahn. He opened his own practice in 1970 in Lugano.-Career:...
    
    .
  • Siza Tower by Álvaro Siza Vieira
    Álvaro Siza Vieira
    Álvaro Joaquim de Melo Siza Vieira, GOSE, GCIH, is a Portuguese architect, born 25 June 1933 in Matosinhos a small coastal town by Porto. He is internationally known as Álvaro Siza .-Life and career:...
    
    .
  • Also buildings by MBM
    MBM (architecture firm)
    MBM is an urban design and architecture firm founded in 1951, and named from the initials of the last names of partners Josep Martorell, Oriol Bohigas and David Mackay. Martorell and Bohigas are Spanish-Catalan, and Mackay is English-Irish.-History:...
    
    , Cruz y Ortiz
    Cruz y Ortiz
    Cruz y Ortiz arquitectos is an Architectural studio founded by Antonio Cruz Villalón y Antonio Ortiz García. The studio have offices in Seville y Amsterdam.- Biography :...
    
    , Luigi Snozzi
    Luigi Snozzi
    Luigi Snozzi is a Swiss architect from Ticino. He is currently working in Locarno and Lugano.He studied at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. From 1962 to 1971, Snozzi worked in association with architect Livio Vacchini...
    
    , Aurelio Galfetti, Herman Hertzberger
    Herman Hertzberger
    Herman Hertzberger is a Dutch architect and emeritus professor.-Biography:Herman Hertzberger was born on 6 July 1932 in Amsterdam, Netherlands....
    
    , Charles Vandenhove, Bob Van Reeth
    Bob Van Reeth
    Bob Van Reeth , who usually signs as bOb Van Reeth, is a Belgian architect.-Biography:Bob Van Reeth started working as an architect in 1965 with designing buildings in Mechelen and Kalmthout. In 1972, he became a teacher at the Nationaal Hoger Instituut voor Bouwkunst in Antwerp...
    
     and Wiel Arets
    Wiel Arets
    Wiel Arets is a Dutch architect, architectural theorist, urbanist, industrial designer and 'Professor of Building Planning and Design' at the Berlin University of the Arts , Germany. Arets studied at the Technical University of Eindhoven, graduating in 1983...
    
    .

• Parks - there are various parks in Maastricht. Of particular note are the following:
  • Stadspark - the main public park on the West bank of the river.
  • Monsigneur Nolenspark - extension of Stadspark with remnants of medieval city walls.
  • Aldenhofpark - another extension of Stadspark with statue of d'Artagnan
    D'Artagnan
    Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, Comte d'Artagnan served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard and died at the Siege of Maastricht in the Franco-Dutch War. A fictionalized account of his life by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras formed the basis for the d'Artagnan Romances of...
    
    .
  • Charles Eykpark - modern park between the public library and Bonnefanten Museum
    Bonnefanten Museum
    The Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, Netherlands is the foremost museum of fine art and contemporary art in the province of Limburg.-History:The museum was founded in 1884 as the historical and archaeological museum of the Dutch province of Limburg...
    
     on the East bank of the Meuse river
  • Griendpark - modern park on the East bank of the river with inline-skating and skateboarding course.

• Sint-Pietersberg - a modest hill just South of the city, peaking at 171 metres (561 ft) above sea level
  Above mean sea level
  The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
  
  . Sights:
  • Fort Sint-Pieter - an 18th-century fortress fully restored in 2008.
  • Grotten Sint-Pietersberg (caves) - sandstone (marl) quarry with vast network of man-made tunnels. Guided tours are available.
  • Ruine Lichtenberg - a farmstead containing a ruined medieval castle keep.
  • D'n Observant - artificial hilltop on Sint-Pietersberg.
• Sint Servaasbrug
  Sint Servaasbrug
  Sint Servaasbrug is an arched stone footbridge across the Meuse River in Maastricht, The Netherlands. It is named after Saint Servatius, the first bishop of Maastricht, and it has been called the oldest bridge in the Netherlands.-Description:The Sint Servaasbrug connects pedestrian traffic from the...
  
  , the oldest bridge in the Netherlands

Museums in Maastricht

• Bonnefanten Museum
  Bonnefanten Museum
  The Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, Netherlands is the foremost museum of fine art and contemporary art in the province of Limburg.-History:The museum was founded in 1884 as the historical and archaeological museum of the Dutch province of Limburg...
  
   - the foremost museum for old masters and contemporary fine art in the province of Limburg. The collection features Medieval sculpture, early-Italian painting, Southern Netherlandish
  Southern Netherlands
  Southern Netherlands were a part of the Low Countries controlled by Spain , Austria and annexed by France...
  
   painting, and contemporary art.
• Museum aan het Vrijthof
  Museum aan het Vrijthof
  The Museum aan het Vrijthof is a museum of history, art and artifacts in Maastricht, The Netherlands.-History of the building:...
  
   - local history museum in the 16th century Spanish Government building, featuring period rooms with 17th and 18th century furnishings, Maastricht silver, porcelain, glassware, Maastricht pistols, and a collection of 17th and 18th century Dutch paintings and 20th century paintings from local artists.
• Treasury of the Basilica of Saint Servatius
  Treasury of the Basilica of Saint Servatius
  The treasury of the Basilica of Saint Servatius is a museum of religious art and artifacts inside the Basilica of Saint Servatius in Maastricht, the Netherlands.-History:The treasure of the church of Saint Servatius was put together over many centuries...
  
   - religious artifacts from the 4th - 20th century, notably those related to Saint Servatius
  Saint Servatius
  Saint Servatius was bishop of Tongeren—Roman Atuatuca Tungrorum the capital of the Tungri—one of the earliest dioceses in the Low Countries. Later in his life he fled to Maastricht, Roman Mosae Trajectum, where he became the first bishop of this city...
  
  . Highlights: the shrine
  Shrine
  A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
  
  , the key and the crosier
  Crosier
  A crosier is the stylized staff of office carried by high-ranking Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran and Pentecostal prelates...
  
   of Saint Servatius, and the reliquary bust donated by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma
  Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma
  Alexander Farnese was Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1586 to 1592, and Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from 1578 to 1592.-Biography:...
  
  .
• Treasury of the Basilica of Our Lady - religious artifacts.
• Derlon Museumkelder - a preserved archeological site in the basement of a hotel with Roman and pre-Roman remains.
• Natural History Museum
  Maastricht Natural History Museum
  The Maastricht Natural History Museum is a natural history museum in the Dutch city of Maastricht. The museum is located in a former monastery complex called Grauwzusters in the historic district Jekerkwartier.The collection is dedicated to the geology, paleontology, flora and fauna of South...
  
   - exhibiting collections relating to geology
  Geology
  Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
  
  , paleontology
  Paleontology
  Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
  
   and flora
  Flora
  Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
  
   and fauna
  Fauna
  Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
  
   of Limburg
  Limburg (Netherlands)
  Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
  
  . A highlight in the collection is the skeleton of a Mosasaur
  Mosasaur
  Mosasaurs are large extinct marine lizards. The first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on the Meuse in 1764...
  
  .

Events & Festivals

• The European Fine Art Fair
  The European Fine Art Fair
  The European Fine Art Fair is an annual art fair, organised by The European Fine Art Foundation in the MECC in Maastricht, Netherlands. It was first held in 1975.-External links:* *...
  
   - TEFAF is the world's leading art and antiques fair (March).
• Preuvenemint - a large culinary event held on the Vrijthof square (August).
• Magic Maastricht - a winter-themed fun fair and Christmas market held on Vrijthof square and other locations throughout the city (December/January).
• Amstel Gold Race
  Amstel Gold Race
  The Amstel Gold Race is a road bicycle race held in the southern part of the province of Limburg, Netherlands. Since 1989 it has been among the races included in season long rankings tables, as part of the UCI Road World Cup , the UCI ProTour , UCI World Ranking and from 2011 the UCI World Tour...
  
   - international cycling race which starts in Maastricht (usually April).
• Jumping Indoor Maastricht - international concours hippique (showjumping).
• Maastrichts Mooiste - annual running and walking event.
• Musica Sacra
  Musica Sacra
  Musica Sacra may refer to* Musica Sacra , a mixed chorus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States* Musica Sacra , a mixed chorus in New York City, United States...
  
   - a festival of religious (classical) music (September).
• Jazz Maastricht - jazz festival formerly known as Jeker Jazz (Autumn).
• Nederlandse Dansdagen - modern dance festival (October).
• KunstTour
  KunstTour
  The KunstTour is a yearly art festival in Maastricht, the Netherlands.During the weekend of the festival, which is usually in spring, a lot of galleries and workshops open their doors to the public for free. Artists then get the chance to expose their work, and the visitors can see the workplaces...
  
   - annual art festival (May).
• Inkom - the traditional opening of the academic year and introduction for new students of Maastricht University (August).
• Carnival
  Carnival
  Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
  
   (Dutch
  Dutch language
  Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
  
  : Carnaval, Limburgish and Maastrichtian
  Maastrichtian dialect
  Maastrichtian or Maastrichtian Limburgish is the city dialect and variant of Limburgish spoken in the Dutch city of Maastricht alongside the Dutch language . In terms of speakers it is the most widespread variant of Limburgish, and is a tonal one...
  
  : Vastelaovend) - a traditional 3-day festival in the southern part of the Netherlands (February/March). In Maastricht largely celebrated outdoors.
• 11de van de 11de - the official start of the carnival season (November 11).

Furthermore, the Maastricht Exposition and Congress Centre (MECC) hosts many events throughout the year.

Cannabis

On 16 December 2010, the Court of Justice of the European Union

Court of Justice of the European Union

The Court of Justice of the European Union is the institution of the European Union which encompasses the whole judiciary. Seated in Luxembourg, it has three sub-courts; the European Court of Justice, the General Court and the Civil Service Tribunal.The institution was originally established in...

 upheld a local Maastrict ban on the sale of cannabis

Cannabis

Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...

 to foreign tourists, restricting coffee shop

Coffeehouse

A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...

s to residents of Maastricht. The ban did not affect scientific or medical usage. While the ban is now legal to enforce, its future is uncertain as the city council of Maastricht and other cities have voted against the planned "cannabis pass system".

Language

Maastricht is a city of linguistic diversity, thanks to its location at the crossroads of multiple language areas and its international student population.

• Dutch
  Dutch language
  Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
  
   is the national language and the language of elementary and secondary education (excluding international institutions) as well as administration. Dutch in Maastricht is often spoken with a distinctive Limburgish accent
  Accent (linguistics)
  In linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location, or nation.An accent may identify the locality in which its speakers reside , the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class, their first language In...
  
  , which should not be confused with the Limburgish language.
• Limburgish (or Limburgian), is the overlapping term of the tonal dialects spoken in the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg. The Maastrichtian dialect
  Maastrichtian dialect
  Maastrichtian or Maastrichtian Limburgish is the city dialect and variant of Limburgish spoken in the Dutch city of Maastricht alongside the Dutch language . In terms of speakers it is the most widespread variant of Limburgish, and is a tonal one...
  
   (Mestreechs) is only one of many variants of Limburgish. It is characterised by stretched vowel
  Vowel
  In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
  
  s and some French influence on its vocabulary. In recent years the Maastricht dialect has been in decline (see dialect levelling
  Dialect levelling
  Dialect levelling is the means by which dialect differences decrease. For example, in rural areas of Britain, although English is widely spoken, the pronunciation and grammar have historically varied. During the 20th century people have been moving into towns and cities, standardizing the English...
  
  ) and a language switch to Standard Dutch has been noted.
• French
  French language
  French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
  
   formerly was the language of education in Maastricht and throughout the 19th century it was spoken by the upper classes. Between 1851 and 1892 a Francophone newspaper (Le Courrier de la Meuse) was published in Maastricht. Currently, the language is often part of secondary school curricula. Many proper names and some street names are French and the language has left many traces in the local dialect.
• German
  German language
  German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
  
  , like French, is often part of secondary school curricula. Due to Maastricht's geographic proximity to Germany and the great number of German students in the city, German is widely spoken.
• English
  English language
  English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
  
   has become an important language in education. At Maastricht University it is the language of instruction for many courses. Many foreign students and expatriates use English as a lingua franca
  Lingua franca
  A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
  
  . English is also a mandatory subject in Dutch elementary and secondary schools.

Secondary education

• Bernard Lievegoedschool (Anthroposophical education)
• Bonnefantencollege
• Porta Mosana College
• Sint-Maartenscollege
• United World College Maastricht
  United World College Maastricht
  The United World College Maastricht ' is the thirteenth United World College. Established in September 2009 the school originates from a merger of the International School Maastricht and the International Primary School Joppenhof....
  
  

Tertiary education

• Maastricht University (Dutch: Universiteit Maastricht) including:
  • University College Maastricht
    University College Maastricht
    University College Maastricht is an English language, internationally oriented, liberal arts and sciences college housed in the 15th century Nieuwenhof monastery in Maastricht, the Netherlands. Founded in 2002, it is the second of its kind in the Netherlands...
    
    
• Maastricht School of Management
  Maastricht School of Management
  The Maastricht School of Management is a leading provider of management education with worldwide presence. Its mission is to enhance the management capacity of professionals and organizations in and for emerging economies and developing countries with the objective to substantially contribute to...
  
  
• Teikyo University
  Teikyo University
  is a private university headquartered in the Itabashi ward of Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1931 as Teikyo Commercial High School by Lee. It became Teikyo University in 1966...
  
   (Maastricht campus closed in 2007)
• Zuyd University of Applied Sciences
  Zuyd University
  Zuyd University of Applied Sciences is a vocational university with campuses in Heerlen, Sittard and Maastricht in the southeastern Netherlands.The main focus of Zuyd University is on Bachelor programmes, 52 in total , most of them in Dutch...
  
   (Dutch: Hogeschool Zuyd, also has departments in Sittard
  Sittard
  Sittard is a city in the Dutch province of Limburg, which is the southernmost province of the Netherlands.On the east Sittard borders on Germany . It has some 48,400 inhabitants . Sittard is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen...
  
   and Heerlen
  Heerlen
  Heerlen is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the province of Limburg. It forms part of Parkstad Limburg, , an agglomeration of about 220,000 inhabitants.After its early Roman beginnings and a rather modest medieval period, Heerlen...
  
  ) including:
  • Academy for Dramatic Arts Maastricht
    Toneelacademie Maastricht
    The Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts, Dutch: Toneelacademie Maastricht, is located in the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands. It is part of the Zuyd University...
    
     (Dutch: Toneelacademie Maastricht)
  • School of Fine Arts Maastricht
    Academie Beeldende Kunsten Maastricht
    The Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts, Dutch: Academie Beeldende Kunsten Maastricht , is located in the city of Maastricht in the Netherlands. It is part of the Zuyd University...
    
     (Dutch: Academie Beeldende Kunsten Maastricht)
  • Maastricht Academy of Music (Dutch: Conservatorium Maastricht)
  • Academy of architecture
  • Teachers training college
  • School for translators
  • Maastricht Hotel Management School

Other

• Jan Van Eyck Academie
  Jan Van Eyck Academie
  The Jan van Eyck Academie is a post-academic institute for research and production in the fields of fine art, design and theory, based in Maastricht in the south of The Netherlands. The academy offers individuals and institutes the opportunity to submit research or production proposals.-1947–1948:...
  
   - post-academic art institute
• Berlitz Language School
  Berlitz Language Schools
  Berlitz Corporation is a global leadership training and education company with headquarters in Princeton, New Jersey and Tokyo, Japan. The company was founded in 1878 by Maximilian D. Berlitz in Providence, Rhode Island...
  
   Maastricht
• Talenacademie Nederland

Private Companies based in Maastricht

• ENCI
  Enci
  ENCI is a Dutch company based in Maastricht, where they dig marl out of the hill St Pietersberg to make cement. The dug-up earth is used to make a hill called d'n Observant...
  
   - First Dutch Cement Industry
• Sappi
  Sappi
  Sappi Limited is a global pulp and paper company group.Sappi is a producer of coated fine paper and chemical cellulose. The company conducts its business through three business units: Sappi Fine Paper, Sappi Forest Products and Sappi Trading....
  
   - South African Pulp and Paper Industry
• Mosa - ceramic tiles
• BASF
  BASF
  BASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Germany. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik . Today, the four letters are a registered trademark and the company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Zurich Stock...
  
   - previously Ten Horn, pigments
• Hewlett-Packard
  Hewlett-Packard
  Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
  
   - previously Indigo, manufacturer of electronic data systems
• Vodafone
  Vodafone
  Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
  
   - mobile phone company
• DHL
  DHL
  DHL Express is a division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post providing international express mail services. DHL is a world market leader in sea and air mail....
  
   - international express mail services
• Teleperformance
  Teleperformance
  Teleperformance is a French customer service, technical support, call center and debt collection company with headquarters in Paris, France.The company operates in around 50 countries, including UK, Brazil, Chile, India, Philippines, China , Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Norway, Italy, USA, Costa...
  
   - contact center services
• Mercedes-Benz
  Mercedes-Benz
  Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
  
   - customer contact centre for Europe
• VGZ - health insurance, customer contact centre
• Esaote (former Pie Medical Equipment) - manufacturer of medical and veterinary diagnostic equipment
• Pie Medical Imaging - cardiovascular quantitative analysis software
• CardioTek - manufacturer of medical equipment for Cardiac electrophysiology
  Cardiac electrophysiology
  Cardiac electrophysiology is the science of elucidating, diagnosing, and treating the electrical activities of the heart. The term is usually used to describe studies of such phenomena by invasive catheter recording of spontaneous activity as well as of cardiac responses to programmed electrical...
  
   procedures
• BioPartner Centre Maastricht - life sciences spin-off companies

Public Institutions

• Administration
  Administration (government)
  The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction.-United States:In United States usage, the term refers to the executive branch under a specific president , for example: the "Barack Obama administration." It can also mean an executive branch agency...
  
   of the Dutch province of Limburg
  Limburg (Netherlands)
  Limburg is the southernmost of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands. It is located in the southeastern part of the country and bordered by the province of Gelderland to the north, Germany to the east, Belgium to the south and part of the west, andthe Dutch province of North Brabant partly to...
  
  
• Meuse-Rhine Euroregion
  Meuse-Rhine Euroregion
  The Meuse-Rhine Euregion is a Euroregion created in 1976, with judicial status achieved in 1991. It comprises 11.000 km² and has around 3.9 million inhabitants around the city-corridor of Aachen-Maastricht-Hasselt-Liège...
  
  
• Limburg Development Company LIOF
• Rijksarchief Limburg - archives of the province of Limburg
• Eurocontrol - European Organisation for the Safety and Operation of European Airspace
• European Journalism Centre
  European Journalism Centre
  The European Journalism Centre is an independent, non-profit institute based in Maastricht, The Netherlands. Its director is Wilfried Ruetten , who was previously the head of digital television at the University of Applied Sciences in Salzburg, Austria....
  
  
• European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA)
• European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM)
  European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM)
  The European Centre for Development Policy Management is an independent foundation which was established in 1986 in order to monitor and support development cooperation between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries....
  
  
• European centre for work and society (ECWS)
• Maastricht Centre for Transatlantic Studies (MCTS)
• Expert Centre for Sustainable Business and Development Cooperation (ECSAD)
• Council of European Municipalities and Regions (REGR)
• European Centre for Digital Communication (EC/DC)
• UNU-MERIT
  UNU-MERIT
  UNU-MERIT is a joint research and training institute of United Nations University and Maastricht University , based in Maastricht in the southeast Netherlands....
  
  
• Maastricht Research School of Economics of TEchnology and ORganization (METEOR)
• Research Institute for Knowledge Systems (RIKS)
• Cicero Foundation (CF)

Sports

• In football, Maastricht is represented by MVV Maastricht (Dutch: Maastrichtse Voetbal Vereniging), currently playing in the Dutch first division of the national competition (which is actually the second league after the Eredivisie league). MVV's home is the Geusselt
  De Geusselt
  De Geusselt is a multi-use stadium in Maastricht, Netherlands. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of MVV Maastricht. The stadium is able to hold 10,000 people and was built in 1961....
  
   stadium near the A2 motorway.
• Maastricht is also home to the Maastricht Wildcats
  Maastricht Wildcats
  The Maastricht Wildcats of the AFBN is an American Football League team from Maastricht. They play in the Dutch 1st division and are rivals with the Amsterdam Crusaders. They won the 2007 Dutch National Championship by defeating the Amsterdam Crusaders 25-16 in the Tulip Bowl...
  
  , an American Football League team and member of the AFBN (American Football Bond Nederland
  American Football Bond Nederland
  The AFBN is the governing body for American Football in the Netherlands. The AFBN was founded in 2001 after the merger of the rival leagues Nederlandse American Football Federatie and American Football League Nederland .-Nederlandse American Football Federatie :The Nederlandse American Football...
  
  ).
• Since 1998, Maastricht has been the traditional starting place of the annual Amstel Gold Race
  Amstel Gold Race
  The Amstel Gold Race is a road bicycle race held in the southern part of the province of Limburg, Netherlands. Since 1989 it has been among the races included in season long rankings tables, as part of the UCI Road World Cup , the UCI ProTour , UCI World Ranking and from 2011 the UCI World Tour...
  
   - the only Dutch cycling classic. For several years the race also finished in Maastricht, but since 2002 the finale has been on the Cauberg
  Cauberg
  The Cauberg is a hill in Valkenburg aan de Geul, a city in the Netherlands. The length of the climb is around 1200 m, with a maximum grade of 12%.- Road Cycling :...
  
   hill in nearby Valkenburg
  Valkenburg aan de Geul
  Valkenburg aan de Geul is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands.-History:Siege and conquest were characteristic of the history of Valkenburg. Each event is withheld, followed by subsequent restorations. This most definitely holds for the castle perched atop of a hill in the middle of the...
  
  .

Politics

Election results of 2006: council seats

Party	Seats	Compared to 2002
PvdA	13	+5
CDA Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...	7	-4
GroenLinks	5	0
VVD	3(4)	-1
SP Socialistische Partij Socialistische Partij may refer toNetherlands parties:* Socialist Party * Socialist Party Belgian parties:* Socialist Party - Different* Socialist Party...	3	+1
Senioren	3	0
D66 Democrats 66 Democrats 66 is a progressive and social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned, young intellectuals, led by journalist Hans van Mierlo. The party's main objective was to democratise the political system; it proposed to create an...	2	0
Stadsbelangen	2	-1
Liberalen Maastricht	1	0
Total	39	–

The municipal government of Maastricht consists of a city council

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

, a mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 and a number of aldermen. The city council, a 39-member legislative body directly elected for four years, appoints the aldermen on the basis of a coalition agreement between two or more parties after each election. The 2006 municipal elections

Dutch municipal elections, 2006

The Dutch municipal elections of 2006 were held on March 7, 2006. About 11.8 million people could vote in 419 municipalities. Due to local redistricting, 15 municipalities have already held elections in January 2006 and 24 municipalities will hold elections in November 2006...

 in the Netherlands were, as often, dominated by national politics and led to a shift from right to left throughout the country. In Maastricht, the traditional broad governing coalition of Christian Democrats (CDA

Christian Democratic Appeal

The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...

), Labour (PvdA), Greens (GreenLeft

GreenLeft

GreenLeft is a green political party operating in the Netherlands.GreenLeft was formed on 1 March 1989 as a merger of four left-wing political parties: the Communist Party of the Netherlands, Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party of Radicals and the Evangelical People's Party...

) and Liberals (VVD

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in...

) was replaced by a centre-left coalition of Labour, Christian Democrats and Greens. Two Labour aldermen were appointed, along with one Christian Democrat and one Green alderman. Due to internal disagreements, one of the VVD council members left the party in 2005 and formed a new liberal group in 2006 (Liberalen Maastricht). The other opposition parties in the current city council are the Socialist Party (SP

Socialist Party (Netherlands)

The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist political party in the Netherlands. After the 2006 general election, the Socialist Party became one of the major parties of the Netherlands with 25 seats of 150, an increase of 16 seats. The party was in opposition against the fourth Balkenende cabinet...

), the Democrats (D66

Democrats 66

Democrats 66 is a progressive and social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned, young intellectuals, led by journalist Hans van Mierlo. The party's main objective was to democratise the political system; it proposed to create an...

) and two local parties (Stadsbelangen Mestreech (SBM) and the Seniorenpartij).

The aldermen and the mayor make up the executive branch of the municipal government. The current mayor of Maastricht is Onno Hoes

Onno Hoes

Onno Hoes is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He has been the Mayor of Maastricht since November 1, 2010.-References:...

, a Liberal (VVD

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in...

), who was appointed after the popular previous mayor, Gerd Leers (CDA

Christian Democratic Appeal

The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...

), decided to step down in January 2010 following the 'Bulgarian Villa' affair.
One controversial issue which has characterized Maastricht politics for years and which has also affected national and even international politics, is the city's approach to soft drug policy. Under the pragmatic Dutch soft drug policy

Drug policy of the Netherlands

The drug policy of the Netherlands officially has four major objectives:# To prevent recreational drug use and to treat and rehabilitate recreational drug users.# To reduce harm to users....

, a policy of non-enforcement, individuals may buy and use cannabis from 'coffeeshops'

Cannabis coffee shop

Coffeeshops are establishments in the Netherlands where the sale of cannabis for personal consumption by the public is tolerated by the local authorities ....

 (cannabis bars) under certain conditions. Maastricht, like many other border towns, has seen a growing influx of 'drug tourists', mainly young people from Belgium, France and Germany, who provide a large amount of revenue for the coffeeshops in the city centre. The city government, most notably ex-mayor Leers, have been actively promoting drug policy reform in order to deal with its negative side effects.

Under one of the latest proposals, known as the 'Coffee Corner Plan' and proposed by then-mayor Leers, the city council unanimously voted in November 2008 to relocate most of its coffeeshops from the city centre to the edge of town, where the sale and use of cannabis can more easily be monitored. The purpose of this plan was to reduce the impact of drug tourism on the city centre, such as parking problems and the more serious issue of the illegal sale of hard drugs in the vicinity of the coffeeshops. The Coffee Corner Plan, however, has met with fierce opposition from neighbouring municipalities and from national government, where the Christian Democrats take a notably more conservative approach to soft drugs than their local party and mayor. Bordering towns and the federal government in Belgium have also opposed the city's policy, citing Maastricht's plan to move the coffeeshops towards the Belgian borders as a violation of European law. The plan has been the subject of various legal challenges and has not yet been carried out.

Twin towns — Sister cities

Maastricht is twinned

Town twinning

Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

 with: Liège, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 Koblenz

Koblenz

Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 Rama

El Rama

El Rama is a municipality in the Región Autónoma del Atlántico Sur department of Nicaragua. It is along the Escondido River which branches off into three other rivers: the Sumi, Rama, and Escondido. It is home to an important Atlantic/Caribbean port. Its population is approximately 50,000...

, Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

Neighbourhoods

Maastricht consists of five districts and over 40 neighbourhoods. Each neighbourhood has a number which corresponds to its postal code

Postal codes in the Netherlands

Postal codes in the Netherlands, known as postcodes, are alphanumeric, consisting of four digits followed by two uppercase letters. The letters 'F', 'I', 'O', 'Q', 'U' and 'Y' were originally not used for technical reasons, but as almost all existing combinations are now used these letters were...

.

1. Maastricht Centrum (Binnenstad, Jekerkwartier
   Jekerkwartier
   The Jekerkwartier is a neighbourhood in the old city centre of Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands. It is named after the Jeker river that flows through the neighbourhood into the Meuse.-Impressions:...
   
   , Kommelkwartier, Statenkwartier, Boschstraatkwartier, Sint Maartenspoort, Wyck-Céramique)
2. South-West (Villapark, Jekerdal, Biesland, Campagne, Wolder, Sint Pieter
   Sint Pieter
   Sint Pieter is a neighbourhood in the city of Maastricht, in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located on the western bank of the river Meuse, in the south of the city....
   
   )
3. North-West (Brusselsepoort, Mariaberg, Belfort, Pottenberg, Malpertuis, Caberg, Malberg, Dousberg-Hazendans, Daalhof, Boschpoort
   Boschpoort
   -LOCATION:Boschpoort is a suburb of Maastricht in the Dutch province of Limburg. The suburb is situated in the North West Quarter of the city on the West bank of the river Meuse . The Dorp or 'village' as its colloquially known to the residence is home to approximately 1500 people.-RECENT...
   
   , Bosscherveld, Frontenkwartier, Belvédère, Lanakerveld)
4. North-East (Beatrixhaven, Borgharen, Itteren, Meerssenhoven, Wyckerpoort, Wittevrouwenveld, Nazareth, Limmel, Amby)
5. South-East (Randwyck, Heugem, Heugemerveld, Scharn, Heer, De Heeg, Vroendaal)

The neighbourhoods of Itteren, Borgharen, Limmel, Amby, Heer, Heugem, Scharn, Oud-Caberg, Sint Pieter and Wolder all used to be separate municipalities or villages until they were annexed by the city of Maastricht in the course of the twentieth century.

By car

Maastricht is served by the A2

A2 motorway (Netherlands)

The A2 motorway is a motorway in the Netherlands. It is one of the busiest highways in the Netherlands. The road connects the city of Amsterdam, near the interchange Amstel, with the Belgian border, near Maastricht and Liège , and the Belgian road A25....

 and A79

A79 motorway (Netherlands)

The A79 motorway is a motorway in the Netherlands. It is located entirely in the Dutch province of Limburg.The road is 17 kilometer in length...

 motorways. The city can be reached from Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 and Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

 in approximately one hour and from Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 in about two and a half hours.

The A2 motorway that runs through Maastricht is heavily congested and causes air pollution in the urban area. Construction of a two-level tunnel designed to solve these problems is scheduled to start in 2011 and last until 2016.

In spite of several large underground car parks, parking in the city centre forms a major problem during weekends and bank holidays due to the large numbers of visitors. Parking fees are high in order to incite visitors to use public transport or park and ride

Park and ride

Park and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...

 facilities away from the centre.

By train

Maastricht is served by three rail operators, all of which call at the main Maastricht railway station

Maastricht railway station

-History:The station was opened on 23 October 1853 and is located on the Maastricht–Venlo railway, the Maastricht–Aachen railway and the Liège–Maastricht railway...

 near the centre and the smaller Maastricht Randwyck

Maastricht Randwyck railway station

Maastricht Randwyck also spelt Randwijck is a suburb railway station in Maastricht, the Netherlands.-History:The station opened on 31 May 1987 and is located on the Liège–Maastricht railway. Two services terminate at this station, these are operated by Nederlandse Spoorwegen and Veolia Transport...

, located near the business and university district. Services northwards are operated by Dutch Railways

Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen , or NS, is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands.Its trains operate over the tracks of the Dutch national railinfrastructure, operated by ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003...

, including regular intercity trains to Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

, Eindhoven, Den Bosch and Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

. The National Railway Company of Belgium runs south to Liège and Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. The line to Heerlen

Heerlen

Heerlen is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. The municipality is the second largest in the province of Limburg. It forms part of Parkstad Limburg, , an agglomeration of about 220,000 inhabitants.After its early Roman beginnings and a rather modest medieval period, Heerlen...

, Valkenburg

Valkenburg aan de Geul

Valkenburg aan de Geul is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands.-History:Siege and conquest were characteristic of the history of Valkenburg. Each event is withheld, followed by subsequent restorations. This most definitely holds for the castle perched atop of a hill in the middle of the...

 and Kerkrade

Kerkrade

Kerkrade is a town and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands.It is the western half of the divided region and de facto city, taken together with the eastern half, the German town of Herzogenrath...

 is operated by Veolia

Veolia Transport Nederland

Veolia Transport Nederland is, like Connexxion, a Dutch subsidiary of Veolia Transdev. It provides bus, train and ferry services.-History:The company first appeared in the Netherlands in 1997 when it traded as CGEA. This company had a 70% share in the train company Lovers Rail who operated trains...

. The former railway to Aachen

Aachen

Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

 was closed down in the 1980s. The old westbound railway to Hasselt

Hasselt

Hasselt is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital of the Flemish province of Limburg...

 (Belgium) is currently being restored. This line will be used as a modern tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

line, scheduled to open in 2012.

By bus

Regular bus lines connect the city centre, outer areas, business districts and railway stations. The regional Veolia

Veolia Transport Nederland

Veolia Transport Nederland is, like Connexxion, a Dutch subsidiary of Veolia Transdev. It provides bus, train and ferry services.-History:The company first appeared in the Netherlands in 1997 when it traded as CGEA. This company had a 70% share in the train company Lovers Rail who operated trains...

 bus network extends to most parts of South Limburg

South Limburg (Netherlands)

South Limburg is both a COROP region as well as a landstreek of The Netherlands located in the province of Limburg...

 as well as to Hasselt

Hasselt

Hasselt is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital of the Flemish province of Limburg...

, Tongeren and Liège

Liège

Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....

 in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, and Aachen

Aachen

Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

By air

Maastricht is served by nearby Maastricht Aachen Airport

Maastricht Aachen Airport

Maastricht Aachen Airport is a regional airport located northeast of the city of Maastricht, in the town of Beek, both municipalities in the Limburg province in the Netherlands. The airport is also northwest of the city of Aachen, Germany....

 - locally known as Beek - with scheduled flights to Alicante

Alicante

Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...

, Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Faro

Faro, Portugal

Faro is the southernmost city in Portugal. It is located in the Faro Municipality in southern Portugal. The city proper has 41,934 inhabitants and the entire municipality has 58,305. It is the seat of the Faro District and capital of the Algarve region...

, Girona

Girona

Girona is a city in the northeast of Catalonia, Spain at the confluence of the rivers Ter, Onyar, Galligants and Güell, with an official population of 96,236 in January 2009. It is the capital of the province of the same name and of the comarca of the Gironès...

, Málaga

Málaga

Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...

, Pisa

Pisa

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...

, Reus

Reus

Reus is the capital of the comarca of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague...

, Trapani

Trapani

Trapani is a city and comune on the west coast of Sicily in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands.-History:...

 and charters to popular holiday destinations during the summer season. The airport is located about 10 kilometres north of Maastricht's centre.

By boat

Maastricht has a river port

Port

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

 (Beatrixhaven) and is connected by water with Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 and the rest of the Netherlands through the river Meuse

Meuse

Meuse is a department in northeast France, named after the River Meuse.-History:Meuse is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...

, the Juliana Canal

Juliana Canal

The Juliana Canal , named after Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, is a 36 km long canal in the southern Netherlands, providing a bypass of an unnavigable section of the river Meuse between Maastricht and Maasbracht...

, the Albert Canal

Albert Canal

The Albert Canal is a canal located in northeastern Belgium, named after King Albert I of Belgium. It connects the major cities Antwerp and Liège and the Meuse and Scheldt rivers. It has a depth of , a free height of and a total length of...

 and the Zuid-Willemsvaart

Zuid-Willemsvaart

The Zuid-Willemsvaart is a canal in the southern Netherlands, providing a shortcut in river Meuse between the cities of Maastricht and 's-Hertogenbosch...

.

Distances to other cities

These distances are as the crow flies

As the crow flies

"As the crow flies" or beelining is an idiom for the shortest route between two points; the geodesic distance.An example is the great-circle distance between Key West and Pensacola, at either end of the U.S...

 and therefore not represent actual overland distances.

Liège

Liège

Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....

: 25.5 km south Aachen

Aachen

Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...

: 31.0 km east Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

: 86.2 km north-east Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

: 89.6 km east Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

: 95.1 km west Antwerp: 97.8 km north-west Luxembourg City: 141.4 km south-east Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

: 142.4 km north-west Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

: 144.5 km north-west Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

: 175.1 km north-west Lille

Lille

Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...

: 186.3 km south-west Frankfurt am Main: 228.8 km south-east Leeuwarden: 261.6 km north Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

: 326.6 km south-west

Local anthem

In 2002 the municipal government officially adopted a local anthem (Limburgish (Maastrichtian variant

Maastrichtian dialect

Maastrichtian or Maastrichtian Limburgish is the city dialect and variant of Limburgish spoken in the Dutch city of Maastricht alongside the Dutch language . In terms of speakers it is the most widespread variant of Limburgish, and is a tonal one...

): Mestreechs Volksleed, Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

: Maastrichts Volkslied) composed of lyrics in Maastrichtian. The theme was originally written by Alfons Olterdissen (1865–1923) as finishing stanza of the Maastrichtian opera "Trijn de Begijn" of 1910.

Maastrichtian municipal anthem (Mestreechs Volksleed) (2002)
1 Hoera! Vivat! Mestreech!!! Jao diech höbs us aon 't hart gelege, Mestreech, door alle ieuwe heer. Veer bleve diech altied genege En deilde dreufheid en plezeer. Veer huurde nao dien aw histories Te peerd op grampeer ziene sjoet. Ues ouge blónke bij dien glories · Of perelde bij diene noet. 2 En dee vaan diech 't sjoens wèlt prijze, In taol, die al wie zinge klink, Dat dee op nui Mestreechter wijze Zien aajd Mestreech mèt us bezingk. Me zong vaan diech ten alle tije, Eus mojers zonge bij de weeg, En voolte veer us rech tevreie Daan zong ze e leedsje vaan Mestreech. 3 Doe, blom vaan Nederlands landouwe, Gegreujd op 't graaf vaan Sintervaos, Bis weerdig dobbel te besjouwe, Gespiegeld in de blanke Maos. 'n Staar, De witste oet de klaore, Besjijnt diech mèt häör straole zach En, um diech zuver te bewaore, 'nen Ingel hèlt bij diech de wach. 4 Wie dèks woorste neet priesgegeve, Mèh heels dien kroen toch opgeriech En ongeknak bis te gebleve, Door euze band vaan trouw aon diech. Daorum de hand us tòwgestoke, 't Oug geriech op 't stareleech; En weur dat oug daan ins gebroke, Daan beidt veur us het aajd Mestreech.

Natives of Maastricht

See also People from Maastricht

• Jan Pieter Minckeleers (1748–1824) - scientist and inventor of coal gas lighting
• Peter Debye
  Peter Debye
  Peter Joseph William Debye FRS was a Dutch physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry.-Early life:...
  
   (1884–1966) - Nobel prize
  Nobel Prize
  The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
  
   winning chemist
• Sjeng Kerbusch
  Sjeng Kerbusch
  Sjeng Kerbusch was a Dutch behavior geneticist.A native of Maastricht, he obtained his Ph.D. from the Catholic University Nijmegen in 1974 as the third Dutchman in this field. Kerbusch specialism was the application of quantitative-genetic methods, especially diallel crosses and Mendelian crosses,...
  
   (1947–1991) - behavior geneticist
• Hubert Hermans
  Hubert Hermans
  Hubert J.M. Hermans is a Dutch psychologist and Emeritus Professor at the Catholic University of Nijmegen, internationally known as the creator of Dialogical self theory.- Biography :...
  
   (1937) - psychologist and creator of Dialogical Self Theory
• Maxime Verhagen
  Maxime Verhagen
  Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen is a Dutch politician in the Christian Democratic Appeal party. He is the Minister of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and Deputy Prime Minister since October 14, 2010 in the Cabinet Rutte.He previously served as a Member of the European Parliament for...
  
   (1956) - politician
• Bram Moszkowicz
  Bram Moszkowicz
  Abraham Maarten Moszkowicz is a Dutch lawyer. Bram Moszkowicz is the son of Berthe Bessant and lawyer Max Moszkowicz...
  
   (1960) - prominent Dutch lawyer
• Hendrick Fromantiou
  Hendrick Fromantiou
  Hendrik de Fromantiou was a Dutch still life painter.-Early life:In his youth, he produced works for the art dealer Gerrit van Uylenburgh in Amsterdam and from 1658 he was active in The Hague.-Career:...
  
   (1633/4 - after 1693) - still life painter
• Johann Friedrich August Tischbein
  Johann Friedrich August Tischbein
  Johann Friedrich August Tischbein was a German painter. He was the most notable painter from the second generation of the Tischbein family of portrait painters and was known as the Leipziger Tischbein...
  
   (1750–1812) - portrait painter
• Matthias Kessels
  Matthias Kessels
  Matthias Kessels was a Dutch sculptor who mainly worked in Brussels and Rome.-Biography:Matthias was born in Maastricht. He was first apprenticed to a goldsmith at Venlo but soon gave up his apprenticeship to attend the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris...
  
   (1784-1836) - sculptor
• Henric van Veldeke (12th c) - poet
• Pierre Kemp
  Pierre Kemp
  Pierre Kemp was a Dutch writer. He was the recipient of the Constantijn Huygens Prize in 1956 and the P. C. Hooft Award in 1958. His younger brother was the writer Mathias Kemp...
  
   (1886–1967) - poet
• Henri Arends
  Henri Arends
  Henri Arends was a Dutch conductor.Henri Arends belongs to the generation of conductors, who paid as much attention to modern music as to that of the classic and romantic periods....
  
   (1921–1993) conductor
• Benny Neyman
  Benny Neyman
  Wilhelmus Albertus Neyman was a Dutch singer.-Biography:...
  
   (1951–2008) - singer of popular songs
• Boudewijn Zenden (1976) - football player
• Fred Rompelberg
  Fred Rompelberg
  Fred Rompelberg is a Dutch cyclist who has set several world cycling records. He is mainly known for his eleven world records cycling behind heavy engines, and for taking several attempts to break the Absolute World Speed Record Cycling...
  
   (1945) - cyclist, current holder of the World Speed Record Cycling
• Ad Wijnands
  Ad Wijnands
  Ad Wijnands was a Dutch professional road bicycle racer, who won two stages in the 1981 Tour de France.- Palmarès :198019801981...
  
   (1959) - cyclist, Tour de France stage winner
• Pieter van den Hoogenband
  Pieter van den Hoogenband
  Pieter Cornelis Ruud Martijn van den Hoogenband is a Dutch former swimmer and a triple Olympic champion.-Personal life:...
  
  (1978) - swimmer and triple Olympic champion

Gallery

External links

• City of Maastricht - official site (English)
• Maastricht Business Foundation - Maastricht Business Foundation (English)
• Famous inhabitants of Maastricht
• Maastricht in Roman times
• Webpage about Maastricht fortifications
• Webpage about the 1673 siege
• D’Artagnan’s death at the 1673 siege of Maastricht, an article by H. Reuvers in Crossroads
• The history of carnival in Maastricht, an article by H. Reuvers in Crossroads
• Webcam Maastricht Randwijck