The southern fortified front, which the city’s defenders could also flood, was located between the Waldeck bastion and the Meuse or, more precisely, between the Jeker and the Meuse. Between 1673 and 1678, famous French military engineer Vauban divided this southern front into a number of inundation basins that could be flooded by means of an ingenious system of sluices, abutments, embankments, and dykes. The inundation basins still existed when the status of ‘fortified town’ was removed in 1867, and the soldiers of the garrison continued to use them as training grounds for a longer period of time. Slowly but surely it also became a popular place for the people of Maastricht to relax in nature. In winter, you could skate on flooded areas to your heart’s content and there was also room for sporting events. The majority of the Tapijn Barracks are located in this old inundation area, including the barracks’ former sports field on the other side of Prins Bisschopsingel.
Until 1867, Maastricht was a fortified town, surrounded by a belt of defence structures, enclosed by a city wall and only accessible via seven city gates. Outside of the old city wall from the fourteenth and fifteenth century, there was an extensive system of fortifications built mainly from earth. These so-called outer works became necessary because, from the fifteenth century onward, so-called artillery or cannons were put into use. With artillery, it was relatively easy to shell the stone city walls. The defenders, therefore, tried to keep the enemy cannons as far away from the city as possible, and they also needed space to manoeuvre their own cannons. This led to the belt of outer works, which gradually deepened. In the ideal situation, these works were surrounded by water to make it even more difficult for an enemy to approach the city. In the area of the Tapijn Barracks, large areas could be flooded. The water had to be too deep to wade across, but preferably not deep enough that an enemy could sail across in boats. Inundation took anywhere from six to twelve days. But at a time when armies moved about on foot and on horseback, this was not much of a problem.
