Welcome to Luxembourg City, capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It stands where the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers meet, in the very centre of Western Europe. This is a remarkably international place: its people come from 160 nations, and foreigners make up more than two thirds of the population. Luxembourg is also one of the de facto capitals of the European Union, home to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Investment Bank and many other institutions. Let's begin on the rock where the city was born.
Bock
Photo: Christophe-Guillaume Selig (1791-1837) · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsYou are standing on the Bock, a rocky promontory at the eastern corner of the old upper town. It was here, in 963, that Count Siegfried built his castle of Lucilinburhuc, the seed from which Luxembourg grew. Over the centuries Burgundians, Habsburgs, Spaniards, Prussians and French all fought over this fortress, one of the most strategic strongholds in Europe, until the Treaty of London ordered the fortifications demolished in 1867. Beneath your feet runs the most surprising part: the casemates, a vast network of underground passages and galleries.
Grand Ducal Palace
Photo: Berthold Werner · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBefore you is the Grand Ducal Palace, the official residence of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and the place where he carries out most of his duties as head of state. The building has worn many hats. From 1572 to 1795 it was the city hall, then the seat of a French prefecture, and from 1817 the residence of the governor who represented the Dutch grand dukes. Only in 1890, with the arrival of the House of Nassau-Weilburg, was it reserved exclusively for the grand duke and his family.
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Photo: Michał Jaroszczyk · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsHere stands Notre-Dame Cathedral, the only cathedral in Luxembourg. It began life as a Jesuit church, with its cornerstone laid in 1613, and it mixes late Gothic architecture with many Renaissance details. Inside, the cathedral honours Our Lady of Consolation, patron saint of both the city and the nation, whose image was ceremonially crowned in 1866. Beside the cathedral you will find the National Monument to the Resistance and to the Deportation, centred on Lucien Wercollier's bronze sculpture The Political Prisoner.
Adolphe Bridge
Photo: Denise Hastert · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsLook out across the Pétrusse valley to the Adolphe Bridge, a double-decked arch bridge built between 1900 and 1903. It has become an unofficial national symbol, standing for Luxembourg's independence. The bridge is named after Grand Duke Adolphe, and its design was later copied for the Walnut Lane Bridge in Philadelphia. Here is a quirk: although it is well over 100 years old, locals still call it the New Bridge, to set it apart from the older Passerelle. Today trams cross the upper deck, while cyclists use a deck suspended beneath it.
Grund
Photo: Suicasmo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsDown in the valley below the city centre, on the banks of the Alzette, lies the Grund, one of Luxembourg's most picturesque districts. You can reach it on foot, or take the lift that descends right through the cliff. By day it is a peaceful riverside neighbourhood; in the evening it becomes one of the city's popular nightlife spots.
Mudam
Our last stop is Mudam, the Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art, on the site of the old Fort Thüngen at the edge of the Kirchberg plateau. The building was designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect I. M. Pei and opened in 2006. Because Luxembourg had no public modern art collection to start from, the museum chose to focus on contemporary art. Its collection includes works by about 100 artists, among them Andy Warhol, Bruce Nauman and Daniel Buren.
Lomakuume
