The square with two churches and a very long memory
Transcript
Stand in the middle of the Vrijthof and turn around once. Two churches. The big Romanesque one is the Basilica of Saint Servatius. The slim red tower next to it belongs to Saint John's. Two churches on one square, almost touching, built by people who did not agree with each other. That is Maastricht in one picture.
This square is older than the city's streets. In the late Roman period it was a cemetery. When archaeologists dug here in 1969 before the car park went in, they found the graves of the early Middle Ages. In 2003 they dug on the north side and found thirteen layers of the Via Belgica, the Roman road from the coast to Cologne, one on top of the other.
The name Vrijthof first appears in writing in 1223, when the emperor handed the ground to the canons of Saint Servatius. For centuries it was the city's stage, and not always a kind one. A rebellious mayor of Liège was beheaded here in 1408. Fifteen Anabaptists were burned here in 1535. Under the French it was renamed Place des Armes, a parade ground.
And every seven years, still today, the pilgrimage of the relics ends on this square, with tens of thousands of people. In summer André Rieu plays here to crowds that fill every chair. In winter the square becomes this: an ice rink, a Ferris wheel, rows of wooden chalets, and one of the very few Dutch Christmas markets that is open on Christmas Day itself.
One thing to look for: the café In den Ouden Vogelstruys on the corner. It opened in 1730 and claims to be the oldest in the city. The glühwein there is served with three hundred years of practice.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
