Fun things to do in Provincie Limburg

Supposedly the oldest city in the Netherlands (Nijmegen is the other contestor). Was founded during the roman empire as a city and is one of very few cities flourishing eversince.

The Dutch lacked their defense at Maastricht and the city has been a part of many countries. Especially France left its footprint here, making it also the most foreign city in the Netherlands, it's got a bourgundic feeling to it.

Maastricht is also the craddle of the European Union. The 1992 treaty transformed the European Economic Community into the European Union, and on top of that, this is the birthplace of the Euro currency.

For tourists there is enough to do. Maastricht is well known for it's old citycenter, famous churches, haute cuisine and the best nightlife of the country. Maastricht was recently voted as "best city" by the Dutch people.

The most famous traintrack in Limburg is called 'Miljoenenlijntje' the name refers to the costs of the track. The 12 kilometer track between Schaesberg and Simpelveld costed 12 million guilders in 1925. That is 1 million per kilometer, an enormous amount in those days. In 1934 the first train used these tracks and in 1988 it was decided to stop the trainconnection because there were to little passengers to make money. Since 1995 a steamtrain makes tourist rides on this tracks.

During the second world war there was heavy fighting in Limburg. Due to its location so close to Germany there were many bomberplanes flying over this area. One of these planes was shot down by the german anti-aircraft guns at 28 april 1944. It crashed in Cartils, killing four of its crew. Two crewmen were rescued by the resistance and were kept hidden untill the invasion of the allied forces. One crewman was captured by the germans. The four men killed are buried in Maastricht. A monument in remembrance is put on the place of the crash.

Around Limburg there are more of these kind of monuments.

In Gronsveld, just south of Maastricht, there is one of the only four towermills left in our country. This mill was built in 1618-1623 for the lord of Gronsveld, Joest Maximillian van Bronckhorst. In 1766 they added 3 meter to the tower, this can be seen clearly because this 3 meters are more narrow.
The mill was used for the villages of Gronsveld, Heugem, Cadier and Keer. All belonging to the lands of van Bronckhorst. In the tower are four grooves through which the miller could see the roads from these 4 villages, all on about equal distance from the mill.

The mill is open to the public on the first and third saturday of the month.

The Limburg province is rich in natural resources. Since prehistoric times people mined the hills for flint. Next came marlstone, gravel, sand, and coal. Since the discovery of natural gas in the north of our country the coal was less interesting and coalmines eventally closed,. Today you can take a tour in an old coalmine in Valkenburg.
Other mines are just there to be discovered. A prehistoric flintquarry with explanation can be seen for free in Valkenburg (Plenkertstraat). In the woods near Gronsveld you can stumble upon a gravelquarry. This one is located in the Savelbos. Until 1950 sand and gravel were taken from here to make roads. The sand and gravel were brought here from the mountains south by the river Maas.

In Kerkrade there is a zoo completely develloped in the 21th century. It opened to the public in april 2005.
The name Gaia, taken from the Greek goddess of the earth, is a symbol for the past. But Gaia also stands for a new earth a living planet.

The park works themes like the icetime, the dino-age, africa and more.

Altough it was rainy and cold when we visited it was a great experience.

In our flat country we call every elevation a mountain. In Limburg they have the highest mountains of our country. In Vaals is the Vaalserberg with 322 meter the absolute recordbreaker.

In the picture the St Pietersberg near Maastricht (170m)

About 800 000 years ago the river Maas streamed through the Limburg landscape over the Örenberg. The water brought 8 meters of gravel, sand and clay at this point. The water was also very rich in calcium. The calcium dripped into the layer of gravel and sand. Eventualy turning into limestone, and with the gravel and sand in it it looks like natural concrete. (Stumbling upon this place during a walk, i actually thought it were concrete remains of a wall or something) The rare sediment is called Örenberg conglomerate after the place it was found. They mined the area and the mine collapsed. The piece you find here are put here as a geological monument.