City Hall and Market Square

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  1. #NL24
  2. Maastricht Town Hall, Markt 78, 6211 CL Maastricht, Netherlands
  3. redactie@thuisinmaastricht.nl
  4. http://www.maastricht.nl/
  5. 50.8513086, 5.6911949 Copy to clipboard Copy
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Market square. In its very centre is the Maastricht Town Hall, built-in 1655. Coming out to this square, I was surprised - there is so much space and a lot of space around, and in the centre, there is a town hall, usually in old cities everything is different and old houses are stuck to each other, and sometimes close to town halls and churches. It turns out that for the construction of the town hall, at one time they simply cleaned out the rectangular square of the square from everything unnecessary and here is the result.
One of the interesting facts in the history of the Town Hall: In the 17th century, the city was ruled by two influential people who had the same rights - the Duke of Brabant and the Bishop of Liege. Therefore, the building of the town hall was divided into two parts. The left-wing was given to the duke, the right - to the offices of the bishop.
Away from the town hall, there is a monument to the scientist and inventor Jan Peter Minkelers (he was born in Maastricht in 1748). Among his inventions is the fact that he became the author of the first street lighting, it was he who drew attention to the fact that when coal is heated in the absence of oxygen, coke oven gas is formed, which is lighter than air. In this case, the gas was highly flammable and could serve as a source of light. 50 years after the death of the scientist, the first gas pipeline was laid in Maastricht, which fully provided street lighting.
And in 1904 a bronze monument was erected.