Sint Odiliënberg

Sint Odiliënberg is a small village in central Limburg, in the Netherlands, east of the river Maas in the Roer valley. It is one of the six villages in the municipality of Roerdalen.

Standing on a hill is a Romanesque basilica with two towers dating from the 11th century. Next to the basilica is a 10th century chapel, originally the parish church.

Until 1991, Sint Odiliënberg was a separate municipality. Since then it has been part of Ambt Montfort which in january 2007 formed a new municipality together with Roerdalen under the name of Roerdalen.

History

Sint Odiliënberg is a few kilometers south of Roermond, lying along the small Roer river. Romans settled here very early. In AD 706, Saint Wiro, Saint Plechelmus, and Saint Otgerus built an abbey, which was important in the christianisation of the Netherlands. In the time of the Viking invasions the Utrecht clergy found shelter here. At first it was a secular chapter, which was moved to Roermond in the 14th century. On the hill the Sepulchrine Order settled in the 14th century. After the Eighty Years' War this area became Spanish; it was ceded to the Dutch Republic in 1715. Until the French municipal reorganisation St. Odiliënberg belonged to the administrive division known as Ambt Montfort, but it became a separate commune/municipality c. 1810, until it remerged in Ambt Montfort and later Roerdalen.

External links

* [http://www.kuijsten.de/atlas/li/stodilienberg.html Map of the former municipality in 1868]