Class was canceled today so you know the drill! Get outside and adventure!
On my list of things to do in Maastricht I really wanted to check out Fort Sint Pieter. The only way to access the fort and caves is by a guided tour so I bought a ticket for both attractions. Sint Pieters fort was built in 1701 and the tour guide joked that it was built in less than nine months since it was built by women. The fort was built on what they call a mountain but in reality it is hardly a hill. Throughout history, the fort has withstood several sieges particularly from the French who took control of Maastricht in 1794.
The fort was built with 110 canon holes built into it and each hole has a space to point in 3 different directions. There were also massive cannons which the tour guide explained how to use. First, you put gunpowder in the tiny hole at the top. Hay was then loaded in the main barrel to prevent the gunpowder mixing with the canon ball. Then, the cannonball was placed with more hay on the other end to prevent it from rolling out. It was truly a process that seemed pretty time consuming. The canons in the fort were primarily used for firing at French ships that arrived via the river in Maastricht.
It was fascinating to hear about the history of Maastricht that originated with Romans who were interested in building roads that connected Maastricht to the rest of Europe. Under the fort was an expansive network of caves. The caves, the tour guide explained, were technically not caves since caves are formed naturally due to erosion and these were man made.
The caves, rather quarries, were dug out initially to harvest limestone and then served as hiding spots from the French. During winter, farmers would dig out networks of quarries to harvest limestone when none of their crops would grow. There was huge demand for limestone given that the city was growing and people needed building material. Farmers would spend their day chopping these massive blocks of limestones with saws and axes. Since many farmers did it to make money in the winter, there were many different networks of caves, however ,none of them were strategically planned so they wind off in different directions. The whole network of caves as shown on the maps is quite impressive.
When farmers had harvested all the limestone, people became attracted to the caves and to make their caves even more attractive, farmers started hiring people to draw on the walls in charcoal. Therefore, whichever caves had better art would be more attractive to tourists.
Inside the caves there was an oven that refugees used when they were hiding from the French. The ceiling is burnt from the ash in that place as there was no chimney since that would cause suspicion if seen. The oven was also necessary as inside the temperature is quite cold and most people died of hypothermia.
Perhaps the highlight of the trip to the caves was when the guide had us turn off all lights and walk approximately 50 meters in the pitch black. In the velvet caves the guide had just turned the lights off for a second but here we had a task to walk in the dark. With our right hand up against the wall we walked in a line. It was very difficult. I could feel the jagged wall that my right hand was holding on to, but could see nothing at all. If I walked too fast I could feel the jacket of the man in front but that was it. It was quite a terrifying experience. I will not be sneaking into a cave anytime soon!
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