Editing Maastricht (section)

=== Early history ===
[[File:Maastricht - rijksmonument 527161 - Museumkelder Derlon 20100821.jpg|thumb|left|Roman sanctuary in the basement of Hotel Derlon]]
[[Neanderthal]] remains have been found to the west of Maastricht (Belvédère excavations). Of a later date are [[Palaeolithic]] remains, between 8,000 and 25,000 years old. [[Celts]] lived here around 500 BC, at a spot where the river [[Meuse]] was shallow and therefore easy to cross.

It is not known when the Romans arrived in Maastricht, nor whether the settlement was founded by them. The Romans built a bridge across the Meuse in the 1st century AD, during the reign of [[Augustus Caesar]]. The bridge was an important link in the main road between [[Bavay]] and [[Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium|Cologne]]. Roman Maastricht was relatively small. Remains of the Roman road, the bridge, a religious shrine, a [[Roman bath]], a [[granary]], some houses and the 4th-century [[castrum]] walls and gates, have been excavated. Fragments of provincial Roman sculptures, as well as coins, jewelry, glass, pottery and other objects from Roman Maastricht are on display in the exhibition space of the city's public library (''Centre Céramique'').

According to legend, the [[Armenia]]n-born [[Saint Servatius]], [[Bishopric of Tongeren|Bishop of Tongeren]], died in Maastricht in 384 where he was interred along the Roman road, outside the castrum. According to [[Gregory of Tours]] it was bishop [[Monulph]] who around 570 built the first stone church on the grave of Servatius, a precursor of the present-day [[Basilica of Saint Servatius]]. The city remained an early [[Christianity|Christian]] [[diocese]] until it lost the distinction to nearby [[Liège]] in the 8th or 9th century.