St Servaaskerk, Maastricht

On the upper floor of the west choir are the famous Keizerzaal (Imperial Hall; 1165-77) and the Imperial Gallery. During the 13th century work continued at this end of the church but was not completed. The fine south doorway, the Bergportaal, has Biblical statuary of the 13th century. The cloister, with its own doorway on the north side of the church, the chapels flanking the aisles and the vaulting of the nave and transepts date from the 14th and 15th centuries.

The church has a rich treasury containing a variety of sacred objects, pictures, statues and above all the Late Romanesque chest reliquary which houses the remains of St Servatius (d. 384). This masterpiece of the metalworker's craft by Godefroid de Claire (12th C.) became known as the Noodkist ("Distress Chest") because in times of danger or difficulty it was carried in procession round the town in order to avert the calamity. Along the sides of the chest are representations of the 12 Apostles, while on the ends are figures of Christ and saints.Other treasures associated with St Servatius are his episcopal crozier, pilgrim's staff, pectoral cross and drinking-cup, a bust of the saint and the famous key to the gates of heaven which Servatius was said to have received from St Paul. There is also a collection of reliquaries (one of them containing an arm-bone of St Thomas), liturgical objects in a variety of styles and ostrich eggs set in gilt metal frames, which - as exotic and unusual objects - were designed to rouse the interest of the masses and attract them to this pilgrimage church.The textiles used to wrap the sacred relics of St Servatius were conserved at the Abegg Foundation in Switzerland.

During restoration work directed by P. J. H. Cuypers in 1869 St Servaaskerk underwent considerable alteration in accordance with the taste of the time; the Baroque tower over the west choir was remodeled in neo-Gothic style and the crypts were given new columns and a vaulted roof. Further restoration work between 1982 and 1990 reversed these changes, and the old time-blackened walls in the interior of the church are now brilliantly white, with blue, red and gold ornament on the vaulting and leaf capitals. Many unidentified remains dating from the sixth century were found in underground tombs.

In the older crypt is the tomb of Charles of Lorraine. At the west end of the nave is a statue of Charlemagne (1843), with the remains of a 12th century altar of the Virgin on its base. In the south tower hangs one of the largest bells in the Netherlands, known as the Grameer ("Grandmother"), weighing 7 tons.