Roermond

Roermond is a city, a municipality, and a diocese in the southeastern part of the Netherlands.The city of Roermond is a historically important town, on the lower Roer at the east bank of the Meuse river. It received city rights in 1231. Roermond town centre has been designated as a conservation area.Through the centuries the town has filled the role of commercial centre, principal town in the duchy of Guelders and since 1559 it has served as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Roermond. The skyline of the historic town is dominated by the towers of its two churches: St. Christopher Cathedral and Roermond Minster or 'Munsterkerk' in Dutch. In addition to important churches, the town centre has many listed buildings and monuments.HistoryWhere before Celtic inhabitants of this region used to live on both sides of the Roer river, invading Romans built a bridge (now called the Steene Brök, or stone bridge) and founded the first town at Roermond, now a suburb called Voorstad Sint Jacob.GueldersAround 1180–1543, Roermond belonged to the duchy of Guelders. In 1213 Roermond was destroyed by Otto IV of Brunswick, the Holy Roman Emperor and German King. By 1232 the city had been rebuilt, and was given its own seal, own reign, own mint, and its own court.