MAESTRICHT, or Maastricht, the chief town of the province of Limburg, in the Netherlands, lies, as the name expresses, at the trecht or crossing of the Maas (Meuse), where the Romans erected a military post on the road between Bagacum (Bavay)and Colonia Agrippina (Cologne). Aix-la-Chapelle is 18 miles east-south-east, and Liége 18 miles south by west. The baths discovered in 1840 io the Groote Stokstraat show that the settlement at Trajectum ad Mosam became a place of some considerable importance. The town is divided by the river into two parts—the larger portion, or Maestricht proper, on the left bank, and the smaller portion, distinguished as Wijk, on the right. A stone bridge of eight arches connecting the two took the place of a wooden structure as early as 1280, and was greatly improved in 1828 and 1836. Formerly a fortress, Maestricht is still a considerable garrison town, but its ramparts were dismantled 1871—78; formerly the seat of a bishop, it still bears a strongly Roman Catholic impress; and, in modern times more especially, it has developed into a great centre of commerce and industry. The churches and religious foundations are almost the only buildings of note, the chief exceptions being the town-house, completed in 1683, and the solitary Protestant church, Janskerk (13th century). The church of St Servatius was, according to one account, rebuilt and enlarged as early as the time of Charles the Great. It is now 260 feet in length, and in the varied character of its Gothic architecture bears evidence of the frequency with which it has been restored and altered. The high altar has a Descent from the Cross by Anthony Vandyck. The saint whose name it preserves obtained great reputation in Maestricht by transferring his bishopric thither from Tongres, and ...