Skulls and bones found in hidden Maastricht church vault

An ancient skull and bones were found under the floor of a Walloon Church in Maastricht. They were located in a cellar, previously unknown. A contractor came across the place during renovation work.

The contractor was working on the meter press last week and had to go into the ground a meter and a half to do so. When he noticed that there was more than just air space, he called Klaas Koelewijn, chairman of the Walloon Church Foundation. “He told me to come over and see what he found,” says Koelewijn. There appeared to be a space nearly three meters deep under the church door.

The contractor had made a hole a few centimeters in size, says Koelewijn. “I grabbed my camera and put my arm in it. When I looked back at the images, I saw that there was a whole vault under the whole entrance. With at least ten skulls and lots of bones on the floor.”

The Walloon Church was built in 1732 in the center of Maastricht, according to the regional broadcaster News L1. Hilarius Chapel used to stand on that spot, but it became too small.

The church has been renovated since last March. It should be a meeting place with cultural and social action, says Koelewijn. “But the function of the church is kept.” The renovation was scheduled to be completed at the end of December.

That won’t work anymore, Koelewijn fears. “In the long term this is a good discovery. But in the short term it is a planning and financial challenge.” The renovation is funded by subsidies from the province and the city and by donors. There is a total of 3.5 million euros in the treasury, but 3.9 million is needed. “And this is an additional charge.”

In the coming weeks, the entire floor of the church will be investigated, as the contractor suspects that there are more places under the church. “We then make a careful plan to open the floor. “

It is not yet clear where the bones come from. These could be people who were buried in the chapel before the church was built almost 300 years ago. “Maybe the people who had to make the new floor of the church came across the bones and put everything in the basement,” says Koelewijn.

Another option is that it is a mass grave from the last plague epidemic in the city, in 1669. “The church may have been built on that.”