ABBEY PRINCIPALITY THORN

Thorn is known as the White Town due to its white houses in the center. It is the first Dutch village on the western bank of the Meuse River from Maastricht. Around 990, a monastery for Benedictine nuns was founded on a height near the Meuse, the Abbey of Thorn. During the 14th century, a miniature principality developed under the leadership of an abbess and 20 noble ladies, the Abbey Principality of Thorn.
The area within which the abbey buildings were located was enclosed by the immunity wall. The immunity meant that the area in question was exempt from the jurisdiction of the parish and the secular administration of Thorn, thus forming its own legal territory.
The arrival of the French in 1794 marked the end of the abbey principality. Most of the ladies had already fled earlier and never returned to Thorn. Under the French, Thorn suffered greatly, and it was during this time that Thorn acquired its distinctive white color. The French imposed a tax based on the size of windows. The poor population, often living in large buildings that had previously belonged to the wealthy, could not afford this. To limit the amount of the tax assessment, the windows were bricked up. In an attempt to hide these building traces ('scars of poverty'), the houses were whitewashed.

By the photo: Ring gate in the immunity wall

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