邊境小城馬斯特里赫特

文／飛揚 圖／李沐

歐洲不同時代和不同地域的文化在馬斯特里赫特碰撞交匯，造就了它與其他荷蘭城市截然不同的人文風采。With the collision and integration of the cultures of different times and regions of Europe, it has developed a humanistic style that is markedly different from that of other Dutch cities.

馬斯特里赫特為荷蘭林堡省的首府，與比利時和德國毗鄰，是荷蘭的第一個居民點。歐洲著名的馬斯河從法國的朗格勒高原發源，流經比利時，穿越阿登森林高地，流入荷蘭境內并最終注入北海。荷蘭最早的先民在馬斯河一處水流平緩的河灘地繁衍生息，逐漸建立城邦，這就是“穿越馬斯河之城”——最初的馬斯特里赫特。

由于特殊的地理位置，馬斯特里赫特自古以來就是極為重要的軍事戰略要地，也是各國必爭之地。歷史上，馬斯特里赫特曾被西班牙、法國、德國入侵多達20多次，歐洲不同時代和不同地域的文化在這里碰撞交匯，造就了它與其他荷蘭城市截然不同的人文風采，就連當地的語言也是混雜了法語、德語和荷蘭語的一種方言。1992年，歐洲各國在這里簽署了《馬斯特里赫特條約》，決定了歐洲大一統的走向，展開歐洲各國間包括經濟、外交、國防上的新合作關系，歐元由此誕生。因此，馬斯特里赫特是歐元的誕生地。

馬斯特里赫特海納百川的包容，讓其成為最具獨特風情的歐洲城市之一。歐洲的精華可以說皆匯集于此：鋪滿中世紀石磚的街道上，兩旁或是西班牙式的白色建筑，或是法國風格的購物街，又或殘垣斷壁的古城墻，滄桑卻唯美。無論是穿行于舊城區的古建筑群中，還是坐在河畔靜觀風景，都能深深地感受到馬斯特里赫特與眾不同的韻味和濃厚的文化內涵。

跨越馬斯河的圣瑟法斯大橋修建于一世紀，見證了這座城市的發展變遷。Built in the first century A.D., the St. Servatius Bridge across the Maas River witnessed the development and changes of this city.

融合多種建筑風格的圣揚教堂（左）和圣瑟法斯教堂（右）并立于弗萊特霍夫廣場一側。Integrating multiple architectural styles, Sint-Janskerk (left) and the Church of St. Servatius (right) stand side by side on Vrijthof Square.

馬斯特里赫特有著眾多的室外咖啡館，經常是顧客云集，座無虛席。Maastricht has numerous outdoor cafes, which are often full of customers, with no empty seats.

天堂書店被譽為“全球最美十大書店”之一，其前身是一座教堂。Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen is known as one of the "Top 10 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World", and its predecessor was a church.

來到這座城市的游客當中，肯定有一部分是專門為了天堂書店而來。夢幻的名字源于它所在的獨特位置——多米尼加教堂之內。這座建于13世紀的哥特式教堂外觀滄桑，內部卻別有洞天，有古老的壁畫、美麗的彩窗、現代書籍以及咖啡的芳香。據說，1794年之后，多米尼加教堂被封禁，直到2002年瑟萊克斯連鎖書店對其進行改建，并經過長達5年時間的裝修，才于2007年變身為書店與公眾見面，不僅獲得了世界級建筑大獎，還在英國《衛報》的“全球最美十大書店”榜單里位列第一。整個書店將現代元素與哥特式建筑風格相結合，不僅保持了多米尼加教堂的歷史古貌，也給快節奏的現代人提供了一個安靜的讀書場所。讀者置身書海，被書本簇擁環繞，時間亦仿佛凝止，不再流動。

圣皮特要塞是馬斯特里赫特在中世紀時為防止外敵圍攻而修建的堡壘。Fort St. Pieter is a fort built for preventing siege by foreign enemies in the Middle Ages in Maastricht.

Maastricht, the capital of Limburg in the Netherlands, borders Belgium and Germany. Due to its special geographical location, Maastricht has been not only a strategic military area of great significance, but also a hotly-contested spot for countries since ancient times. In history, Maastricht had been invaded by Spain, France and Germany more than 20 times. With the collision and integration of the cultures of different times and regions of Europe, it has developed a humanistic style that is markedly different from that of other Dutch cities. Even its local language is a dialect mixing French, German and Dutch. In 1992, European countries signed thehere, which determined the great unity trend of Europe, and launched new cooperative relations on economy, diplomacy and national defense among European countries. Then, the euro emerged. Thus, Maastricht is the birthplace of the euro.

The inclusiveness of Maastricht makes it one of the most distinctive European cities. The cream of Europe is here. Among the people who have been to this city, some of them certainly came to visit Boekhandel Selexyz Dominicanen. The dreamlike name is derived from its unique location—Dominican Church. This gothic church built in the 13th century appears old externally, but houses amazing treasures including old frescoes, beautiful stained glass windows, modern books, and aromatic coffee. It is said that, the Dominican Church had been banned since 1794; in 2002, the chain bookstore Selexyz rebuilt it; after five years of decoration, it turned into a bookstore open to the public in 2007. It has not only won a world-class architecture award, but also ranked first on the list of “Top 10 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World” published by the UK’s.