De Thombe

De Tombe is an originally early medieval motte on the Sint-Pietersberg in the south of the Dutch municipality of Maastricht. The remnant of the motte lies along the Van Schaikweg on the western flank of the Sint-Pietersberg at the edge of the ENCI forest. To the west of the motte lies the Groeve de Tombe quarry and to the south of the motte lies the ENCI forest.

French, Spanish and States armies used the motte in the past to bombard the city of Maastricht.

Because of the use of the fortification during various sieges, the motte was also called Spaanse Heuvel (Spanish Hill), Franse Fort (French Fort), Franse Batterij (French Battery) or Napoleonsberg. Some other names are Oude Tombe, Ouden Borg, Ouborch, Altborch, Vetus Castrum and Brommelentom (= Bramentombe?). These names are mentioned in old documents, in which mainly neighbouring plots are designated ("near the Ouborch").

Originally a keep stood on top of the motte, but it had already been abandoned in the 14th century. Foundations of this square tower were uncovered in 1920. In the 17th century De Tombe had the appearance of a redoubt. As of 2016 nothing of the buildings can be seen any more. A remnant of the moat is, however, still present. The top of the hill has been disturbed by recent excavations. The castle mound has a diameter of 30 metres and a height of 8 metres.

What remains of the motte has been fully restored by the current owner, the Natuurmonumenten association. Because of the rarity of the object and its cultural-historical importance, De Tombe has the status of a rijksmonument (national monument).

Machine-translated from “De Tombe (motte)” on the Dutch Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

De Thombe ranks #7,556 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #197 of the 200 mapped in Netherlands. 45 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Liège, 22 km away. See how Netherlands compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia (in Dutch) ↗