Gulpen

Gulpen is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is approximately midway between the Dutch city of Maastricht and the German city of Aachen. Gulpen was a separate municipality until 1999, when it merged with Wittem. The newly formed municipality is called Gulpen-Wittem. The town itself derives its name from the river Gulp, which runs straight through the centre of the village and characterises the townscape. There is a Romanesque tower in the old cemetery, which dates from the 11th Century and is the only still existing part of a mediaeval village church. Considering its construction (its walls are up to 2 metres thick) and its location, it probably also served as defence tower, where the local villagers could go in case of...