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LUXEMBOURG CASTLE
AND FORTIFICATIONS

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Luxembourg - The Fortifications

It is very hard to distinguish which parts of the fortifications of Luxembourg-Ville are the "Castle" as such.  It was started by Count Siegfried in AD 963 who built his Lucilinburhuc (little castle) on the Bock Promontory above the Alzette river.

Thanks to its position Luxembourg became one of the key's to European power and it was besieged and fought over on numerous occasions until the Congress of Vienna finally settled it as the Grand Duchy and passed it to the King of the Netherlands (William of Orange).  This lasted until the 1890s when Luxembourg gained its full independence.

The Fortifications of Luxembourg were mostly designed by the French architect Vauban who constructed an incredible complex of 3 defensive walls, 24 forts and a 17 mile network of underground tunnels known as the "Casemates".  The Castle formed only a very small part of this complex.  Luxembourg became virtually impregnable and gained it's nickname of "Gibraltar of the North".  These fortifications were dismantled after the Treaty of London (1867).  It took longer than 20 years to dismantle the fortifications, and when you see how much remains today it makes you wonder what it must have looked like before dismantling!

Two sections of the Casemates (Bock and Petrusse) feature museums and a walk along the Alzette and Petrusse valleys gives an idea of just how fortified Luxembourg was and, indeed, still is today.  It is no mistake this is the heart of the European Union!

Back to Castles of Luxembourg

Back to Castles of Luxembourg


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2018


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