Tweet21-04-2010 om 14:41 by Amanda Potter

Last weekend was so lovely that Dan & I pedaled over the Meuse and out of Maastricht to explore a nearby town: Cadier en Keer. The visit was fun and reading about the town and its neighbors have me excited to do more exploring by bike this summer. The ride to Cadier en Keer isn't a long one, but it did take us past the hospital and up a very long hill, so be prepared if you decide to go that way as well.

About the Village
Cadier en Keer is a village not far outside of Maastricht on the Dutch side of the river and featured several historical buildings, including a church from the 12th century. It was originally two separate villages, Cadier and Keer, but in 1828 they were combined into a single municipality. The town spent some time as part of Belgium until 1839 when it, as well as a large amount of Limburg, finally became part of the Netherlands. The name is a little odd as both ‘cadier’ and ‘keer’ are believed to be derived from a Germanic work meaning ‘division’ (according to the municipality's website).



Today Cadier en Keer is a nice residential village surrounded by farmland. Many people who live there commute into Maastricht for their work by car or by bus. A statue of Athena’s head mysteriously has a place of honor near a small bocche ball playing field. Several natural reserves are nearby too, so there is a lot of excellent biking.

Afrikacentrum
A no-miss for a visit to Cadier en Keer is the Africa Center, a museum and learning center dedicated to bringing West African culture, history and art to the Netherlands. It was originally started over 100 years ago by a missionary group. Today it is still operated by the Society for African Mission and their volunteers.



The main floor features a multimedia display of life today in Ghana with life sized displays and props to make you feel like you’re right there. Cut out people will speak to you as you walk by and poetry shares a little information about various subjects: education, shopping, medicine, work, etc. Upstairs you can see examples of West African art and masks, while in the basement a library and workshop provide space for the various programs run at the center. We used our Museum Cards to gain entrance, but the Afrikacentrum is fairly inexpensive.

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