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LUXEMBOURG CITY |
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The city of LUXEMBOURG is one of the most spectacularly sited
capitals in Europe, the deep canyons of its two rivers, the Alzette and
Pétrusse, lending it an almost perfect strategic location. It's a tiny
place by capital city standards, and broadly divides into three distinct
sections. The old town , on the northern side of the Pétrusse valley, is
not noticeably very ancient, but its tight grid of streets, home to most
of the city's sights, makes for a pleasant, lively area by day. On the
opposite side of the Pétrusse, connected by two bridges, the Pont
Adolphe and Pasarelle, lies the modern city - less attractive and of no
real interest beyond being the location of the city's train station and
cheap hotels. The valleys themselves, far below and most easily
accessible by lift from place St-Esprit, are a curious mixture of houses,
allotments and parkland, banking steeply up to the massive bastions that
secure the old centre.
The City
The Old Town focuses on two squares, the most important of which is
place d'Armes , fringed with cafés and restaurants. To the north lie the
city's principal shops, mainly along Grand Rue , while on the southern
side a small alley cuts through to the larger place Guillaume , the
venue of Luxembourg's main general market on Wednesday and Friday
mornings and flanked by the bland buildings of the city authorities. A
block away is the Ruritanian Palais Grand-Ducal , originally the town
hall, but adopted by the Luxembourg royals as their residence in the
nineteenth century.
Close by, a group of patrician mansions bordering the Marché aux
Poissons has been converted into the city's largest and most diverting
museum, the Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art , which holds an
extensive collection of Gallo-Roman archeological finds; however, it's
currently being renovated - check with the tourist office for details.
East of the museum lies the Rocher du Bock , a strongpoint where, in
963, Count Siegfried built the fort that was to develop into the town.
It was an ideal defensive position, and in 1648 the French developed the
natural advantages of the site to turn Luxembourg City into one of the
most strongly defended fortresses in Europe. The streets here cling to
the edge of the plateau, overlooking the sharp drop below, at the bottom
of which nestle the slate-roofed houses of Grund - accessible by lift
from place St-Esprit. The most substantial and accessible fortifications
are the Bock casemates (daily March-Oct 10am-5pm; ¬1.70). Used as bomb
shelters during World War II, their galleries honeycomb the long
protrusion of the Bock. There's nothing much to see inside beyond a few
rusty old cannons, but there are fine views over the city's spires and
aqueducts. From the Rocher du Bock you can follow the dramatic chemin de
la Corniche to place St-Esprit, where the top of the gigantic Citadelle
du St-Esprit bastion, built in 1685 by Vauban, has been levelled off and
is now a grassy park. There are more casemates close by, the Casemates
de la Pétrusse (Easter & July-Sept guided tours 11am-4pm; ¬1.70),
hollowed out by the Spanish in 1674 and accessible by way of some steps
on place de la Constitution. The nearby Cathédrale Notre-Dame , whose
slender black spire dominates the city's puckered skyline, dates from
1613, but it has been remodelled on several occasions, creating the
architectural jumble that exists today: the transepts and choir are in a
clumping Art Deco style, whereas the (much more appealing) seventeenth-century
nave is Renaissance. Inside, items of interest are few and far between,
but there is a plaque in the nave honouring those priests killed in
World War II, and the Baroque gallery at the back of the nave is a
likeable affair graced by alabaster angels and garlands of flowers. In
the apse is the country's most venerated icon, The Comforter of the
Afflicted , a medieval lime-wood effigy of the Madonna and child which
is frequently dressed up in all manner of lavish gear with crowns and
spectres, lace frills and gold brocade.
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