The tunnel is dim, barely lit by the lanterns provided to a few members of the tour group. Miles of tunnels are cut through the interior of Mount Saint Peter, a former limestone quarry turned tourist attraction. Both here in the Netherlands and just across the border into Belgium, the area once held more than 20,000 such tunnels. Today, about 8,000 survive.
It seems an odd place to sum up a visit to Maastricht, a city of about 120,000 in a small part of the Netherlands that sticks southward between Belgium and Germany. And yet as my group is guided through the underground maze, it becomes exactly that.
The entrance to the tunnels, called the Maastricht Caves, lies just across the parking lot from the Sint-Pieter fortress, a fairly imposing structure built on this “mountain,” the highest point in the region. Of course the term mountain needs to be taken with a grain of salt in the Netherlands, as this is barely a hill in most of the world, with an elevation of roughly 550 feet. But it does have strategic value overlooking the city, and after a 1673 siege by the French under Louis XIV, the fortress was built to prevent enemies from just loading the high ground with artillery.
While the view of the city from atop the hill is lovely, some of the best perspectives on Maastricht come from within the tunnels themselves. After the quarries closed and the tunnels became tourist attractions, art installations were commissioned. (Other amateur artists added their own, as well.) These mainly consist of charcoal on the limestone walls, and a tour underground will guide visitors through some of Maastricht’s city highlights. It is a wonderful comparison point to seeing the real versions while wandering through the cute and relatively compact historic city center.
The Vrijthof is Maastricht’s center square, a large open concrete plaza used for big events. Two churches sit overlooking it; one is Catholic and large (this part of the Netherlands is mainly Catholic, having been part of the Holy Roman Empire) while the other is smaller and Protestant, but with a higher bright red tower to claim importance. The alley between them is known locally as Purgatory.
But for the best church visitation experience, visit the Basilica of Our Lady and its iconic Star of the Sea madonna. (Ignore for a moment that Maastricht is a considerable distance from any ocean.) This statue dates to the fifteenth century, while the church itself predates it by a few hundred years.
Back in the tunnels, I am wowed by the quality of the artwork, even that which does not show the city itself. It is like wandering through an underground museum, which is sort of ironic since one of the complex’s claims to fame is that it houses a bunker used by the Nazis to keep stolen artwork, mainly from here in the Netherlands, safe during World War Two. Rembrandt’s iconic “The Night Watch” was stored here along with hundreds of other priceless paintings, kept in a temperature controlled vault beneath the mountain.
My tour takes about ninety minutes, exploring history, art, and the bunker itself, before returning to the surface. Beneath me, Maastricht spreads out, and a day of wandering beckons.
Maastricht is located on a relatively narrow portion of the Meuse River, with mainly intact medieval fortifications on both sides of its old bridge. The center has some lovely old buildings, cute pedestrian streets, and some of the Netherlands’ most expensive shopping.
It also plays home to a few fascinating historic tidbits, from a few different eras. First, Maastricht is where the mighty sea-going dinosaur the Mosasaurus was discovered in 1765. Second, the famous (and apparently real) musketeer D’Artagnan died here in battle in the aforementioned 1673 siege, and is honored with a statue. And finally, the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992 established the European Union. For a small city, that’s a lot!
But the highlight of Maastricht might just be vlaai. What is vlaai? It is basically pie, but with a yeast dough as crust. Over my two days here, I tried four different varieties, each better than the next. Add in a cup of very dark brew locally roasted coffee, and it’s a treat you just can’t miss.
Sadly, the tunnels don’t have any artwork of vlaai, but the landscapes, historical maps, and general drawings on the walls neatly sum up what a visit to Maastricht can be. It is a city few have heard of, but one absolutely worth trying to see! (For more of Maastricht, make sure to click here to read about it from the perspective of a local, our amazing writer – and my host for my trip – Hedy.)
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