Discover Geleen: Holiday Apartment in Geleen – Nature, Church and Mining

Geleen combines natural landscapes, church history and a mining past into a destination with several distinct perspectives. If you are planning a holiday apartment stay in Geleen, you can shape your visit around these themes: the Geleenbeekdal represents varied landscapes and wildlife habitats, while the Marcellinus and Petrus Church and evidence of the Staatsmijn Maurits provide further historical points of access.

The Geleenbeekdal as a Theme for Your Holiday Apartment in Geleen

The Geleenbeekdal contains damp alder woods, beech forests on steep slopes, flower-rich meadows and tall-standard orchards. The area was designated to protect and restore natural stream courses, flower-rich hay meadows, wet forests and old meanders. At the same time, the Geleenbeekdal provides a habitat for kingfishers, badgers and stag beetles. The landscape is therefore not limited to a single type of nature, but combines different impressions in a distinctive valley landscape.

The hiking route through the Geleenbeekdal starts at the De Biesenhof nature transferium, Biesenweg 1, 6164 RA Geleen. Biesenhof itself also adds a historical dimension to this theme: its history stretches back more than 750 years, to 1259. For your planning, nature and the past can therefore be considered two interconnected focal points of a stay here.

Church and Mining History in Geleen

In Oud-Geleen, the present main building of the Marcellinus and Petrus Church dates from 1862, while the tower dates from 1504. There is strong evidence that the original church was already built in the 9th century. The Marcellinus and Petrus Church also has a hardstone baptismal font from 1622, donated by Arnold IV Huyn, who died in 1624.

Geleen's mining history is also visible in concrete traces. The deepest shaft of the Staatsmijn Maurits was 810 metres deep. Two murals at the Julianatunnel commemorate the Staatsmijn Maurits and address the local mining past as well as the development towards innovation and a circular economy. The miners' hiking route “Geleen vertelt” tells the story of Geleen's rapid growth, driven by coal mining. Thus, alongside the older church history, there is an industrial history that continues to be considered in the context of the present day.

Hiking, Running and a Route Starting from the Market

For active days, Geleen offers various documented formats. The Danikerbosloop is an annual running competition in Geleen around Daniken. The route “De Maurits en haar kleinkinderen Sittard-Geleen Mijnroute 4” starts at the market in Geleen; it is not signposted, but can be downloaded as a separate route description. The different starting points and formats help you distinguish between a hike through the natural landscape, a running competition and an independently planned route.

When choosing a holiday apartment in Geleen, you can shape the focus of your stay around these themes: nature and hiking in the Geleenbeekdal, ecclesiastical history in Oud-Geleen, or the mining history surrounding Staatsmijn Maurits, Julianatunnel and “Geleen vertelt”. This leaves room for different types of travel without limiting Geleen to just one way of exploring it.

More places for planning your trip: Papenhoven, Limbricht, Born, Buchten and Sittard.

For the overarching travel overview: Sittard-Geleen.