Simpelveld

城市概覽

The town's roots go back thousands of years, known through archaeological finds of the Linear Band Ware culture in the area. In Roman times, it was a settlement on the road from Maastricht to Aachen. The famous sand stone sarcophagus, dated back to 100-200 AD, that was discovered in 1930 most likely belonged to one of Simpelveld's rich female inhabitants, who rather likely lived in a nearby villa roughly located at the beginning of the modern-day Sint Remigiusstraat. As rich as Simpelveld's Roman history seems to have been, the remnants of this time are sadly hardly visible during a visit, and a notable amount of Roman findings from the nearby land are on display in nearby Heerlen as well as Leiden. The fact that this small town had two different monasteries gained it the local title of "kloesterstedsje", or "monastery town". The second monastery still stands, but since 2018 functions as a museum dedicated to Simpelveld's historical past. The village has an active local community and serves as a centre for daily shopping for neighbouring villages. It receives a fair number of Dutch tourists in summer, who use the town as a base for a visit to the whole of the South Limburg region. The town's direct vicinity is typically South Limburgish, lending itself well to walking and cycling, featuring rather sloped terrain for Dutch standards, as well as hollow ways cut into the rural loess grounds.

如何抵達

By car Simpelveld is easily accessible through the E314/A76, which connects the town directly to Aachen and Geleen, and gives it a highway connection to Maastricht via the A79. To Heerlen, the N281 is the main connection. Coming from the north of the Netherlands, simply first head in the direction of either Eindhoven or Nijmegen, from where you can follow the A2 and A73 respectively, heading south.

By train Although the village has a train station, that is now only used for the touristic Miljoenenlijn and has no regular connection to the Dutch railway system. The steam train operated by ZLSM comes from either Kerkrade or Valkenburg. It doesn't have a routine schedule but this is a recommended route if you want to see some of the spectacular views of the hillsides of Maastricht-Hill Country and it would get you to Simpelveld, if coming from one of its few other stations. Sadly, it isn't possible to board a ZLSM train at Kerkrade and use it to get to Simpelveld, so using the train you can either get as close to Simpelveld as Heerlen or Maastricht, from where you will have to rely on buses.

By bus From Heerlen, either bus 20 or 26 to Kerkrade or bus 21 to Aachen will serve you well, taking about half an hour to 45 minutes to get you from the Heerlen main station to Simpelveld. From Maastricht, take bus 350 towards Vaals and Aachen, getting off in Gulpen, and transferring onto bus 47 heading for Parkstad Stadion. This journey will take about an hour to complete.

By plane The nearest airport is Maastricht-Aachen Airport (MST IATA), with some international destinations.

當地交通

As Simpelveld is a small place, you'll be mostly able to make your way on foot in the center. However, to explore the outskirts or nearby villages, a bike or car is a good option.

Natuurtransferium, Kruinweg 5. Bike rental (see Do below for listing).

必看景點

The town has a few national heritage sites. There are some old farms and a number of religious sites.

1 Loreto Monastery (Museum de Schat van Simpelveld), Kloosterstraat 68. A few nuns still remain in this monastery, right in the middle of the town. Clara Fey, who founded the congregation of the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus, is buried in the chapel. When the German congregation had to flee Aachen due to the kulturkampf in the late 19th century, Simpelveld became the world headquarters. Several of the buildings are listed rijksmonuments. As of September 2020, the building houses a museum, Museum de Schat van Simpelveld, showcasing monastic life. 2 Hellingbos, behind the city hall. Just behind the city hall and the Loreto monastery lies a park called the "Hellingbos". Originally part of the monastery grounds and gardens, it used to hold a cemetery and chapel. Nowadays, the Stations of the Cross remain the main sights in the park, which makes a tranquil place to linger or just walk around. 3 Replica of the Sarcophagus of Simpelveld, Markt 1. Office hours. The real sarcophagus is part of the collection of The Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, but a really good replica can be found at the city hall. 4 Huize Damiaan, Pater (ptr) Damiaanstraat 38, ☏ +31 45 5440000. This former monastery was founded in 1892 by followers of the canonized Belgian father Damian. Nowadays, it is a conference centre with some 49 rooms for group accommodation and individual travellers. 5 Remigiuskerk, Pastoriestraat. The Neo-Romanesque church was built in the 1920s but it is the church interior that is of significant historic value and therefore listed as a national heritage site. It's usually open, just don't go sight-seeing when a mass is in progress as it will not be appreciated.

體驗活動

1 ZLSM (Zuid-Limburgse Stoomtrein Maatschappij), Stationstraat 20-22, [email protected]. Take a ride through the southern part of Limburg on this classic steamtrain ride. See the marvels and beauty of this part of the Netherlands cross high bridges and see some great cities on the way. The Simpelveld train station serves as a headquarter for the ZLSM and doubles as small museum. . (updated Oct 2020) 2 Natuurtransferium, Kruinweg 5, ☏ +31 45 5446323. As in most small towns in the South Limburg region, many travelers use Simpelveld as a base for hiking and biking in the area. Simpelveld has a number of very suited routes. Head to the "Nature Transferium Poort Mergelland" on the edge of town. It is the main tourist information point and forms a starting point for many routes. Here you can rent a number of bikes (including motorized ones) and buy maps. If you've really been working out, they even offer use of a shower for bikers.

購物

For a real shopping spree you should head to nearby Heerlen or (better yet) to Maastricht, Sittard or Aachen. However, Simpelveld has all the basic shops you would need during your stay, including grocery stores, clothing shops, household goods and stores for cosmetic and personal hygiene items. The town's shops are a combination of modern Dutch chain stores and old-fashioned family-run village shops, some of which have been here for decades. You'll find most of the shops on and around the Markt, the newly built Kloosterplein, the Kloosterstraat, and the Dorpsstraat (Village street). The Plus supermarket on the Kloosterplein is open M-Sa 08:30-21:00 and Su 10:00-18:00. Het Oude Schoolhuis on the corner of the Markt and Dorpsstraat sells some nice antiques. There's a weekly market on Friday mornings, mostly with fruits, vegetables and other food items.

美食

For a village of its size, Simpelveld has a good number of places to eat, although several are cheap fries & snacks places. On