Maastricht can be called the most atypical city of the Netherlands, because no tulips, no channels, no other familiar to everyone know this country of attributes, can not be found here. In many respects, this is due to the location of the city on the border itself with Germany and Belgium, which in turn historically influenced Maastricht. Lee joke, 21 times in the history of the city, he turned out to be captured or was in the siege, which in turn led to the fact that at the beginning of the 17th century the city became in fact an impregnable fortress.
It is with the military past of the city that the first attraction of Maastricht - is connected - Cave Sint-Petersburg , appeared during the construction of fortress walls, as well as the active building of the city. It was from them that they took a stone to build structures. This is not just a kind of deepening in the hills, and a whole labyrinth of more than 20 thousand caves, in which residents of the city were hiding during the fighting, and during the Opija took appointment as warehouses and incapsites. The place is very interesting, but for some reason unknown by many tourists.
But the next attraction is an adorable place among those who came to Maastricht - Square Freithof. If we translate simplifier into Russian, then the name will mean the "courtyard in front of the church" and this translation is how it is impossible to describe the location of the area. She is actually right in front of the church of St. Servas (server). Freythof Square, this is the busiest place of the city and if we compare with something, then you can compare with the Moscow Old Arbat. In spirit and confusion, everything is very similar. It is here that there is a huge number of cafes, restaurants where you can taste local cuisine and drinks. And if you want spiritual food, that is, it makes sense to go to the theater in Freitof, which is right here. The peculiarity of the theater is that every day is a different repertoire, not only by name, but also by the genre of art (cabaret, musical, drama, tragedy, etc.)
By the way, it is from here that the excursion tram goes, where in 45 minutes you can go and inspect the sign places of the old part of the city.
Next to the Basilica of St. Servas is another remarkable place of Maastricht - Church of Saint Jans , built in the 14th century on the site of a destroyed baptismal chapel. The temple is interesting for its not quite traditional for such buildings by the architecture. What is the main red tower climbing 70 meters. No less interesting and internal decoration created by the famous architect Kunrad Pirkens. Temple of valid
A bright spot in the overall architectural style concept. The city stands out - Dominican Church Built in the 13th century in the Gothic style with the addition of romance elements. Inside the church you can see the amazing beauty of the frescoes written by the hands of Thomas Akin. The fate of the church over the past couple of centuries committed the most bizarre zigzags, which could only be assumed. The temple was used as a hall for celebrations, a warehouse and even a terrarium. And now this is a huge bookstore Seleksiz with an interesting concept of racks, allowing to increase the trading area up to 1200 square meters, and this is despite the fact that the total area of the church does not exceed 750, while all the frescoes and images on the walls and the ceiling Perfectly visible to visitors.
Fans of painting, especially Flemish and Dutch Middle Ages must be visited Museum Bonnenfanten , Collection of pictures of which in this direction of painting is one of the largest in the world. The art gallery presents the work of such masters as: Peter Bruegel younger, David Tenirsa Jr., Peter Rubens, Jacob Yordans, Peter Cook Wang Alsta, Marinus Van Reymersval, Rusten Savere and other less well-known authors. Italian artists of early revival occupy a couple of rooms in the exposition. There are halls devoted to sculpture and modern art.
In general, you can speak infinitely about the sights of Maastricht, because it is a city with a richest history and a huge number of monuments (there are more than 1500 there !!!). In addition to the already described, it is necessary to look at the saint bridge. Servasa across the River Maas built in 1280, the medieval gate has the name of the "Gate of hell" created in the 13th century, the courthouse (formerly) of the 15th century, the Church of Onze-Live-Frauwe made in the Romanesque style, as well as a huge number Mansions and palaces of the era of early Renaissance.
In my opinion, this is a great place to spend 2-3 days in it (not enough) when visiting the Netherlands.