The best city hikes and walks around Maas

Next to the magnificent Romanesque Basilica of St. Servatius is the younger church (from the 13th century) dedicated to St. John, which was originally built as a Catholic parish church, but now offers a spiritual home to the town's Protestant fellow citizens.

The Leewenmolen, located in the Jeker district, dates back to 1694 and is also known as Molen van Clemens and was formerly the oldest mill on the Jeker River.

Parts of the city wall are still preserved. The old mill, which is still in operation, is definitely worth seeing.

The red tower of St. John's Church and the Basilica of St. Servatius mark the historical significance and uniqueness of the square.

Maastricht's Gothic St. Matthew's Church (Sint-Matthiaskerk) is located on Boschstraat. Construction of this church began around 1350, but it is believed that a church already stood on this site before then. The St. Matthew's Church is definitely worth a look.

Watermill with a lion behind the mill wheel

At the beginning of our era, the mouth of the Jeker formed a real delta, which even reached the northern side of the Vrijthof in Maastricht. Since Roman times, the course of the Jeker has changed several times, Jeker branches have been shifted, added and filled in. After the Middle Ages, only three branches of this delta remained, a southern, a middle and a northern branch. The southern Jeker, the presumed main branch, branches off in front of the De Reek water gate and continues its way as a city moat along the second city wall in the Henri Hermanspark, to unite with the northern branch behind the Pesthuis and together flow into the Maas. This northern branch flows from De Reek via the Huis op de Jeker and an underground course from Achter de Molens towards the Pater Vinktoren. The middle branch split off at the Dolk mill on the site of the current conservatory, where the ‘Weyer’ was located, a pond-like widening of the Jeker. Via the Grote and Kleine Looiersstraat, it flowed towards the Maas. At the bottom of the Pater Vincktoren, it then joined the northern and shortly afterwards the southern branch of the Jeker. This old outlet is still visible. The street structure in the Jekerkwartier, as it is now, is therefore largely dependent on the various Jeker courses. From the late Middle Ages, this area was the scene of the tanners, who used the Jeker water in the tanning process. The river here was more like an open sewer or garbage dump, in which all too often lay carcasses, old clothes, kitchen waste, street dirt and excrement. Moreover, the Jeker regularly overflowed its banks. After a number of floods between 1890 and 1895, the municipal authorities had had enough and decided to fill in the middle branch. During the filling in, two sewers were installed in the old riverbed, which can be connected to the northern branch on both sides. However, to speak of a covered Jeker, which is often claimed, would be too much of an honour for these sewers. Source: https://aldecaerte-maastricht.nl/de-verdwenen-middentak-van-de-jeker/

The first house (and the first building in general) of Wyckerpoort is Villa Wyckerveld. Construction started in 1879 for Eugène Regout (name on the entrance gate, see photos), brother of Mosa founder Louis (note: Royal Mosa is a producer of ceramic tiles), and his family. A park was laid out around the villa with a coach house, marlstone garden walls and a gate at the beginning of the driveway. In 1918, the municipality of Maastricht bought the villa, it became a domestic science school. In September 1944, during the liberation of Maastricht, members of the resistance, the local KP (resistance group) were in charge of the villa. They arrested collaborators and held them captive in the villa. After consultation in Brussels with Prince Bernhard, the resistance group was transformed into the Royal Patrol. That name can still be read -vaguely- on the bluestone window girders above the entrance on the east side of the villa. The Knokploegen and the volunteers after the liberation are incorporated into the newly established regiment of Stoottroepen that uses the villa as its headquarters. The efforts of the Stoottroepers were honored with a statue in the garden in front of the terrace on the side of the Meerssenerweg. The statue was stolen in April 2024. Sculptor Charles Eyck designed the statue. What the thieves took is a copy, the original is in the War Museum in Overloon. After the war, the villa is put back into use as a domestic science school. In the 1990s, the municipality sells the villa. The new owner turns it into an apartment building. The main building, a piece of park and a small remnant of marlstone wall on the Thorbeckeplantsoen are all that remain of the original villa. And oh yes, and of course those beautiful old trees on the grounds of the Sint Maartenscollege. The villa park extended there and even further. Source: https://www.wyckerpoortmaastricht.nl/villawyckerveld