{"id":15824,"date":"2025-10-28T23:29:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T21:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/romeinse-renaissance-in-maastricht\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T20:19:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T18:19:04","slug":"romeinse-renaissance-in-maastricht","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/romeinse-renaissance-in-maastricht\/","title":{"rendered":"Roman Renaissance in Maastricht"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":{"categorie":33,"afbeelding":15779,"auteur":"Harry Lindelauf","fotografie":"RCE, WikeCommons, Harry Lindelauf","contentbuilder":[{"acf_fc_layout":"tekst","tekst":"<h3>Saint Servatius, the fortifications, and that magnificent historic city centre \u2014 Maastricht has so much visible and tangible history that the Roman period is often overshadowed. But that is about to change: the city is working on a Roman Renaissance, to be completed in 2027.<\/h3>\r\nThe Roman Renaissance consists of several components:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>renewal and expansion of the permanent exhibition at the Maastricht Museum,<\/li>\r\n \t<li>a temporary exhibition at the Maastricht Museum and a Roman festival,<\/li>\r\n \t<li>renewal and possible expansion of the presentation of the Roman cellar beneath Hotel Derlon,<\/li>\r\n \t<li>and \u2014 not yet certain, but already proposed \u2014 the reconstruction of part of the Roman bridge over the Meuse.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"foto_tekst","foto":15795,"tekst":"<h3>Euregio Project VIA VIA<\/h3>\r\nThree of these components already have funding. The exhibitions and the Roman Derlon cellar are partly financed by the Euregio project VIA VIA. The Interreg Meuse\u2013Rhine programme of the European Union and the Province of Limburg have committed financial support."},{"acf_fc_layout":"tekst_foto","tekst":"Without a Roman bridge, there would be no Maastricht\r\nThe reason for the Roman Renaissance can be summed up succinctly by Wim Hupperetz, director of Centre C\u00e9ramique, of which the Maastricht Museum is part: \u201cWithout a Roman bridge at this spot, there would be no Maastricht.\u201d\r\nThe idea of reconstructing a section of the Roman bridge on the banks of the Meuse also comes from him: \u201cMuch of our Roman history lies underground. How can we make it visible to people? The riverbank used to lie about 90 metres further west, so you could reconstruct two or three bridge piers on the Bat if you wanted to. That triggered my imagination \u2014 hence the idea to rebuild parts of the bridge where the real one once stood.\u201d The first reactions in the city are positive. Whether the reconstruction will actually happen remains uncertain; designers and architects will first do their work, followed by a feasibility study and, eventually, a municipal council decision.\r\n\r\nWim Hupperetz: \u201cWithout a Roman bridge, there would be no Maastricht.\u201d","foto":15803},{"acf_fc_layout":"foto_tekst","foto":15791,"tekst":"<h3>Unique Roman ensemble<\/h3>\r\nMaastricht also possesses Roman remains that are not hidden underground. The cellar of Hotel Derlon, on the corner of Onze Lieve Vrouweplein and Plankstraat, contains restored remnants of a temple gate, the base of a Jupiter column, a cobbled road surface, a water well, and reused stones from the Roman castellum wall. This ensemble is unique in the Netherlands and, thanks to the VIA VIA project, will receive a new presentation."},{"acf_fc_layout":"tekst_foto","tekst":"<h3>Pierre Rieu wants a Roman \u2018vibe\u2019<\/h3>\r\nThe new owner of Hotel Derlon is Pierre Rieu, who is enthusiastic about the Roman cellar: \u201cIn my career I\u2019ve slept in around 2,000 hotels, but never one with Roman remains. This is fantastic! But as it is now, it couldn\u2019t be more underexposed. I want to bring more experience into the cellar. And \u2014 I learned this word from my children \u2014 the whole hotel will breathe a Roman \u2018vibe\u2019. But it won\u2019t be Disney or the Colosseum. The right balance is crucial. I want guests to say: wow, this is amazing.\u201d\r\nPlans for a renovation of the hotel are currently being developed.\r\n\r\nPierre Rieu: \u201cThe whole hotel will breathe a Roman \u2018vibe\u2019. But it won\u2019t be Disney or the Colosseum.\u201d","foto":15787},{"acf_fc_layout":"foto_tekst","foto":15799,"tekst":"<h3>Servatius as storyteller<\/h3>\r\nCity archaeologist Gilbert Soeters and curator Sjoerd Aarts of the Maastricht Museum, in close consultation with Pierre Rieu, are working on the new presentation of the Roman remains in the Derlon cellar. Their shared goal is to offer visitors more explanation and experience from early 2027 onwards.\r\nFor that purpose, \u201cServatius\u201d will be employed \u2014 he made his debut in 2024 during the Via Belgica LUX Festival as a Maastricht wine merchant. Servatius will tell the story of the finds in the renewed Derlon cellar. That story is written by archaeologists and brought to life through artificial intelligence, complete with a face and voice.\r\nGilbert Soeters: \u201cIn this way, the story of this place comes to life. The greater story of Roman Maastricht will be told in the Maastricht Museum.\u201d\r\n\r\nRead also: Maastricht had not one, but three Roman bridges."},{"acf_fc_layout":"tekst","tekst":"The Interreg Meuse\u2013Rhine programme has recognised the tourism project VIA VIA as a valuable initiative with a total implementation budget of \u20ac4,567,252.40 and an ERDF contribution of \u20ac2,283,626.17. The project is also supported by the European Union, co-financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Province of Limburg, and the Regio Deal Parkstad Limburg."}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15824"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15828,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15824\/revisions\/15828"}],"acf:term":[{"embeddable":true,"taxonomy":"category","href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/33"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.viabelgica.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}