Old Valkenburg

Oud-Valkenburg (Limburgish: Oud-Valkeberg) is a village in the Limburg municipality of Valkenburg aan de Geul. The village is located between Valkenburg and Schin op Geul. The origin of Valkenburg likely lies in Oud-Valkenburg. Presumably, the document dated February 15, 1041, which mentions the name Falchenberch - the first written mention of Valkenburg - does not refer to the present city by the Geul, but to the current Oud-Valkenburg. Until 1940, the village was an independent municipality.

The church of Oud-Valkenburg is dedicated to John the Baptist and partially dates back to the 11th century. The church contains a baroque altar from the 18th century. Furthermore, the church is adorned with 14 modern Stations of the Cross, created by the artist couple Vroemen-Jager.

In Oud-Valkenburg, there are two castles, Kasteel Genhoes and Kasteel Schaloen. Kasteel Genhoes is the ancestral castle of the lords of Valkenburg. The current buildings, a castle and a closed farm, date from the 17th and 18th centuries. Kasteel Schaloen was built in 1656 and was extensively restored in the 19th century by Pierre Cuypers. This building also includes a farm. Additionally, there is a watermill (Schaloensmolen or Sjloens Meule) and the famous Kasteeltuin Oud-Valkenburg with plants that are typical of the South Limburg flora.

Oud-Valkenburg is located along the railway line Aachen - Maastricht. From October 23, 1853, until June 1, 1923, the village had its own stop, Station Oud Valkenburg.

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Oud Valkenburg; it is released under the GNU Free Documentation License . You may distribute it, both verbatim and adapted, as long as you adhere to the rules of the GFDL.

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