Page 383 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - The Netherlands

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E Museum Spaans
Gouvernement
Vrijthof 18. Tel 043-3211327.
Open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun.
Closed public hols. &
This museum, housed in a
16th-century chapterhouse,
features period rooms from the
17th and 18th centuries, and
Dutch paintings from that era.

P Centre Céramique
Avenue Céramique 50. Tel 043-350
5600. Open call ahead or check
website. Closed Mon & public hols.
& = ∑ centreceramique.nl
This information centre has a
library, archive, cafés and the
European Journalism Centre.
T Grotten St-Pietersberg Crypt in the eastern part of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek
Luikerweg. 8 phone for details
(043-3252121). & - 0 earliest Gothic buildings in the well as commissioning new
The famous St Peter’s caves were Maasland region. This portal is murals and ceiling paintings.
created when limestone was dedicated to St Mary, with These were repainted during a
quarried through the centuries. representations of her life, subsequent restoration, which
Eventually a maze of over 20,000 death and Assumption in the was completed in 1990.
passageways came into being. arch. The side chapels and
Some of the inscriptions on the the Gothic transept date from R Onze-Lieve-
walls are very old, and reveal approximately 1475. Vrouwebasiliek
artistic skills of the miners. Highlights of the basilica’s O-L-Vrouweplein. Treasury: Tel 043-
treasury are the 12th-century 3561330. Open timings vary, call to
reliquary containing the relics check. Church: Closed during services.
of St Servatius and St Martin of Construction of Onze-Lieve-
Tongeren, and the golden bust Vrouwebasiliek began around
of St Servatius. The latter was 1000. The oldest part of the
dona ted to the town by the basilica is the imposing west
Duke of Par ma when Maastricht façade. Once this was
was captured by the Spaniards completed, work began on the
in 1579. nave and transept. The chancel
The Gothic Bergportaal (15th century) of During the 19th century, followed in the 12th century,
the St-Servaasbasiliek thorough restoration works built over an 11th-century crypt.
were undertaken by Pierre The apse pillars, made from
R St-Servaasbasiliek Cuypers. He restored the limestone, are crowned with
Keizer Karelplein 7. Tel 043-3212082. western end to its original lavishly sculpted capitals, such
Open 10am–5pm Mon–Sat, 12:30– Romanesque splendour, as as the renowned Heimokapiteel.
6pm Sun. Closed 1 Jan, Carnival,
25 Dec.
Construction on St Servatius The Reliquary of St Servatius
Basilica began around the year The magnificent restored reliquary is
1000 on the spot where the a monumental shrine containing the
saint was buried (upon which relics of St Servatius and St Martin
stood an earlier church). The of Tongeren. It is made of wood
nave, the crypt, the transept covered with embossed gilded
copper plate in the shape of a
and the chancel are the oldest house. It dates from about 1160
parts of the basilica, dating back and was built by artists from the
to the 11th cen tury. The apse Maasland region. The front of the
and the two chancel towers reliquary depicts Christ, with the
were built in the following 12 apostles along the sides, and
century. The western end also St Servatius surrounded by angels
dates from the 12th century. on the back. The “roof” of the “house”
The southern Bergportaal gate is decorated with scenes from
dates from the early 13th the Last Judgement. The 12th-century reliquary
century, and is one of the

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