Maastricht, a walled city with the Gates of Hell @ Netherlands

Maastricht, have you ever heard of it?
If you are a world history buff or have studied world history, the Maastricht Treaty may sound familiar to you.

The Treaty of Maastricht is a treaty that established the European Union (EU), officially known as the Treaty on European Union, but so called because it was signed in Maastricht, the Netherlands.

Yes, Maastricht was the name of a city.

What kind of city is Maastricht?

Maastricht is located in the south of the Netherlands, about 250 km south down from Amsterdam, and is a town that stretches from east to west across the Maas River. The west side is the old town and the east side is the new town.

Maastricht is located near the borders of Germany and Belgium, and has long been a traffic hub and a place of constant conflict.
For this reason, a double city wall was built around the 13th century, and parts of it still remain today.

Here are two of the best places to visit in Maastricht.

“Helpoort, the Gate of Hell,” a recommended spot in Maastricht

The first one is called the Gates of Hell, or Helpoort.

This gate is a castle gate that was built in 1229. Why is it called the Gate of Hell?
The reason why it is called the Gate of Hell is because it is related to the plague ”Pest” that spread in Europe during the Middle Ages, and people who had contracted the plague used this gate to move them out of the town to a building specializing in plague patients. From the townspeople’s point of view, plague patients who left through the gate never came back to the town. I guess that’s what it means.

Maastricht’s best spot: “The Bookshop in the Former Church.

The second place I would like to introduce is a bookstore.
The bookstore itself is an ordinary bookstore, but the building was actually originally a church, so it is a bookstore with a high ceiling and a few ceiling paintings.
The exterior is a church itself. The inside is also like a church itself except for the bookshelves.