The Casemates, Linieu of Du Moulin and City wall of Maastricht, The Netherlands

Maastricht is a culturally rich city in the south of the Netherlands. The beautiful City Wall of Maastricht closes in a great historical city centre. Maastricht is a great city to visit if you love the Burgundian culture that is abundantly present in this part of the Netherlands.

Visit the Casemates – City wall and Linieu of Du Moulin – Maastricht

You can really feel like you’re abroad for a while during a city break in Maastricht. Limburg’s beautiful undulating landscape is almost un-Dutch.

If you would like to see more of this beautiful city please visit my blog

Where is Maastricht?

The city of Maastricht is located in the south of our country in the province of Limburg. Maastricht is the second cultural city of the Netherlands. Maastricht has a rich history and has acquired a beautiful streetscape. The architecture has done its best and this is still clearly visible.

Walking over the Sint Servaasbrigde to get to Citycentre of Maastricht

Hiking in Maastricht?

The best way to explore a city, if you ask me, is walking. Make miles and explore the city on foot. You will get the best view of Maastricht this way and really taste the unique burgundian atmosphere that pervades the city. Would you like to walk a route? Check out this city walk. Unfortunately they don’t share it in English but you can follow the GPX.

The Old City Wall of Maastricht

Maastricht has restored part of the old city wall of Maastricht but also part of the defence line that surrounds the city. Built between 1575 and 1825, this was used this way. You entered the Netherlands through Maastricht and so this was a strategically important city in the defence line. To keep this secure, many provinces funded the constructions.

Beautiful old city gates in the city wall of Maastricht

Maastricht’s old city wall is super to walk on.

In some places, they have created a wall garden. You can rest there and enjoy the beautiful views of the park and water. On the outside, a beautiful park has been made in which ponds have been created adjacent to the city wall with beautiful fountains. It is lovely to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and walk there.

The garden on the City wall of Maastricht.

You can reserve a spot on a walking tour in Maastricht

The Casemates and City wall of Maastricht

Fountain in the park with the City wall on background

Helspoort of Maastricht (Hels Gate)

The famous Helspoort in Maastricht’s city wall
It was built around 1230

This is the Oldest Gate in The Netherlands

Maastricht had a unique defense method, one that wasn’t used anywhere else but here.

That’s why the city was for a long time supposed to be unbeatable. They had the city wall build and because Maastricht is above sealevel, most of the wall wasn’t surrounded by water. Well to protect the city from invaders they had built another wall, that one was facing the first one. In that wall there were tunnels, long brick tunnels. These tunnels were mainly used for military purposes.

That was a long network of tunnels on the western part of the city. The other side was lower and flooded from time to time because on that side is also the river Maas.  I went in there to see how it was in those Casemates.

The unique method of defending the city through casemates is also something you should definitely visit during your visit to Maastricht!

I went to the Waldeck Bastion, this is the entrance for the tour in the casemates. The surrounding park is called Waldeck Park.

Visit Bastion Waldeck – Casemate of Maastricht

You can clearly see the embrasures in the wall here
opposite Maastricht’s original city wall.

In the old days, it was common knowledge that if you wanted to be safe near a city wall you had to stand under the wall. The weapons they had then could not shoot downwards but only forwards or upwards. The bullets would have simply fallen out. So the enemy ran across a piece of flat land in order to jump into the moat in front of the Maastricht city wall.

There they would regroup and start the attack again but at that moment they were attacked from the wall opposite them. In the wall opposite them were holes, holes to shoot through. The wall was built in a kind of star shape and thus they could shoot from the opposite wall along both corners and so there was nowhere safe to stand in the dry moat.

It is a very good defensive technique and it lasted for a long time but at some point Maastricht too was conquered.

It’s not that high…. People were probably smaller too in those days?

They do have nice lamps to take with them.
Of course, it is very dark in Maastricht’s casemates

We get detailed explanations about the tunnels from our guide.

• Information about the guided tour of the Maastricht Casemates

How to Book

Entrance for adults is €11.75, for children up to 12 years €9.25 (update 2025)

They do offer activities  and tours in English and for groups. But due to the presence of various stairs, the Casemates are not accessible for wheelchair users or visitors with limited mobility.

Tip to Visit too!

Hoge Fronten – Linieu van Du Moulin – Maastricht

Besides the Casemates, you can also visit the Hoge Fronten. Here you can just walk around freely and get a good look at the line as well!

In the vicinity of the Casemates, you also have the High Fronts area. They also call this the Linie van Du Moulin. I’ve been there and this is a unique area just outside the centre of Maastricht. It still shows a lot of how the city was secured and how the line was built. It is not a museum but a kind of park, so it is freely accessible to everyone. I found it really worthwhile to walk around there.

You can see the holes from which they shoot again, lining up to the city wall

St. Lambertus Church, Maastricht in the background

Gelderland, a province of The Netherlands, 1773

As I mentioned earlier, many provinces helped pay for this important defence line of the Netherlands. This one was then apparently paid for by Gelderland. This is how I came across several provincial names.

I loved walking around here. I met several people jogging, walking the dog or just taking a stroll. So it was not so much a tourist attraction but more a place where Maastricht residents walked around.

Wondering if that is still the case now!

I am far from finished in this interesting city and just need to go there again to explore more.

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