Sittard

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

Sittard is a city with 48,400 inhabitants (including Munstergeleen, Limbricht, Einighausen and Guttecoven). It is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen, in the province of Limburg, the Netherlands. It is situated on the border with Germany (municipality Selfkant, in North Rhine-Westphalia).

Sittard was first mentioned in 1157. Sittard was granted city rights by the Duke of Limburg in 1243. In 1400 it was sold to the Duchy of Jülich, and remained in its possession until 1794. Sittard was a small stronghold, until a great part of it was destroyed in 1677 during the Franco-Dutch War. Under French occupation (1794-1814), Sittard was part of the Roer department. Since 1814, it has been part of the Netherlands, except for the years 1830-1839, when it joined the Belgian Revolution.

Sittard has a small, attractive city centre with many architectural monuments, including several old churches (St Peter's, St Michael's, Basilica of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart) and a few half-timbered houses. The city has retained part of its city wall. On the south-eastern side of the city centre, the St Rosa chapel crowns the Kollenberg hill.

The Sittard train station provides connections with Maastricht, Roermond and Heerlen.

The Museum Het Domein is situated in a converted nineteenth century school building in the city centre. The museum focuses on contemporary art, urban history and archeology.

Sittard is the home of the semi-professional football club Fortuna Sittard. The SABIC European head office, as well as a large DSM office and production facilities, are based in Sittard. There are several schools for professional education in the city, including faculties of the Hogeschool Zuyd and Fontys Hogescholen and the 'Trevianum' highschool.

Its geographical data are:

• 51°0' Latitude North
• 5°52' Longitude East
• 52 meter Altitude
• UTC+1 Timezone

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Sunday November 25, 2007 at 06:25:54 PST (GMT -0800)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation