ROERMOND or Roermonde (i,e., “Roer-Mouth ”), a town of the Netherlands in the province of Limburg (formerly Guelderland), on the right bank of the Maas (Meuse) at the mouth of the Roer, which separates it from the suburb of St Jacob. It is 29 ⅜ miles from Maestricht by the railway to Venlo (opened 1865). The old fortifications were dismantled in 1819 and have been partly turned into promenades. At this point the Maas is crossed by a bridge erected in 1866-67, and the Roer by one dating from 1771 and replacing the older structure destroyed in 1764. The finest building in the town is the Romanesque minster church, begun in 1218, and dedicated by Archbishop Engelbert of Cologne. In the middle of the nave is the tomb of Count Gerhard III. of Guelderland and his wife Margaret. The cathedral of St Christopher is also of note; on the top of the tower (246 feet) is a copper statue of the saint and the interior is adorned with paintings by Rubens, Jacob de Wit, &c. The Reformed church was once the chapel of the monastery of the Minorites. The old bishop’s palace is now the court-house, and the old Jesuits’ monastery with its fine gardens is now occupied as a higher burgher school. Woollen, cotton, silk, and mixed stuffs, paper, flour, and beer are manufactured at Roermond. The population of the town was 5712 in 1840 and 8797 in 1870; and that of the commune has increased from 6005 in 1840 to 10,470 in 1879....