MAASTRICHT or MAESTRICHT, a frontier town and the capital of the province of Limburg, Holland, on the left bank of the Maas at the influx of the river Geer, 19 m. by rail N.N.E. of Liege in Belgium. Pop. (1926) 48,529. Maastricht was originally the traiectus superior (upper ford) of the Romans, and was the seat of a bishop from 382 to 721. Having formed part of the Frankish realm, it was ruled after 1204 jointly by the dukes of Brabant and the prince-bishops of Liege. In 1579 it was besieged, taken and plundered by the Spaniards under the duke of Parma. It was taken by the French in 1673, 1748 and 1794. A small portion of the town, known as Wyk, lies on the right bank of the river.
A stone bridge connecting the two replaced a wooden structure as early as 128o, and was rebuilt in 1683. Formerly a strong fortress, its ramparts were dismantled in 1871-78. The town-hall, com pleted in 1683, contains pictures and tapestry. The old town-hall (Oud Stadhuis), a Gothic building of the 15th century, is a mu seum of antiquities. The church of St. Servatius, founded by Bishop Monulphus in the 6th century, is the oldest church in Hol land ; according to one account it was rebuilt and enlarged as early as the time of Charlemagne. The crypt with the tomb of the patron saint dates from the original building. The late Roman esque church of Our Lady has two ancient crypts and a 13th century choir, but the nave suffered severely from a restoration in 1764. The original church of St. Martin (in Wyk) occupied
the supposed cite of an old heathen temple. The Protestant St. Janskerk, a Gothic building of the 13th and 15th centuries, with a fine tower, was formerly the baptistery of the cathedral. Maas tricht contains the provincial archives, a library and geological collections. Though mainly indebted for its commercial prosperity to its position on the river, the town did not begin to reap the full advantages of its situation till the opening of the railways between 1853 and 1865. At first a trade was carried on in wine, colonial wares, alcoholic liquors and salt ; there are now manufactures of earthenware, glass and crystal, as well as breweries, and tobacco and cigar factories, and a trade in corn and butter.
A short distance south of Maastricht are the great sandstone quarries of Pietersberg, which were worked from the time of the Romans till the end of the 19th century, resulting in subterranean labyrinths covering an area of 15 m. by 9 m. In the time of the Spanish wars these underground passages served to hide the peasants and their cattle.