Luxembourg Cathedral of Notre Dame. Notre Dame Cathedral of Luxembourg: history, photos and interesting facts. Architectural style: a meeting of two eras

Notre Dame Cathedral of Luxembourg is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the southern part of Luxembourg. Initially it was a Jesuit church, built in 1613-1621 by the architect J. du Block. The cathedral is a striking example of late Gothic architecture, but it contains many elements and decorations of Renaissance architecture. The cathedral is decorated with rich choirs, which contain many Moorish style elements. At the end of the 18th century, the cathedral received the miraculous image of the Mother of God - the Comforter of the Sorrowful, who is the patroness of the city and the people. Now this image is located in the southern part of the temple, and is an object of pilgrimage. Every year on the fifth Sunday after Easter, the Day of the Holy Virgin of Luxembourg is celebrated here.

Coordinates: 49° 36’ 34.0007" N, 6° 7’ 54.2412" E
(decimal: 49.6094446494991, 6.13173365592957)

source: wikipedia.org

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Notre Dame Cathedral, or Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Luxembourg. In 1603, a Jesuit college was opened in Luxembourg, and soon the order decided to build its own church in the city. So, in 1613, the first stone was laid in the foundation of the future Jesuit temple, which later became the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The ceremonial consecration of the church took place in 1623.

By the mid-18th century, the political and economic influence of the Jesuit order began to cause serious concern in the royal houses of Europe. The intrigues that followed, the main goal of which was to neutralize the influence of the order, resulted in mass persecution of its members. In 1773, Pope Clement XIV was forced to abolish the order, which for more than two centuries had been a reliable support of the papacy and the main force of the Counter-Reformation. The Jesuits were expelled, including from Luxembourg, and already in 1778, the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa donated a Jesuit temple to the city, and it became the new parish church and was called the “Church of St. Nicholas and St. Theresa.” The church received the name Notre-Dame in March 1848. In 1870, in accordance with the decision of Pope Pius IX, Luxembourg became a diocese, and the Church of Notre Dame received the status of a cathedral.

Luxembourg's Notre Dame Cathedral is a very impressive structure, built in the late Gothic style with copious additions architectural elements and decorations typical of the Renaissance. Such an unusual combination of two so different styles undoubtedly gives the building a special charm. The cathedral is crowned by three towers - the western bell tower was part of the Jesuit temple, and the eastern and central ones were added during a large-scale reconstruction of 1935-1938.

The luxurious interior of the cathedral undoubtedly deserves special attention - impressive columns decorated with arabesques, numerous sculptures, colorful stained glass windows, a neo-Gothic confessional, etc. The main relic of the cathedral is the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary, the Comforter of the Sorrowful, whom Luxembourgers reverence as their patroness.

In the crypt of the cathedral, the entrance to which is “guarded” by two bronze lions by Auguste Tremont, rests the remains of the Grand Dukes of Luxembourg.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Luxembourg (Luxembourg) - description, history, location. Exact address and website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

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An amazingly beautiful and elegant late-Gothic temple with elements of the Renaissance style is a rare example of religious architecture for Luxembourg, and for the whole of Europe, combining two historical milestones at once.

Notre Dame Cathedral of Luxembourg, which was given its present name only in 1848, was built by the Jesuit order in 1613–1621. But the brotherhood did not enjoy the beautiful temple for long: after about 150 years, namely in 1773, the order was expelled from the country, and the church was presented with a miraculous image of the patroness of Luxembourg - the Virgin Comforter.

It was in her honor that the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin received its modern name, as well as its episcopal see.

Located in the south of the capital, the cathedral attracts attention with its 19th century interiors: the Neo-Gothic style, popular in those years, prevails here. Pay attention to the tomb of the rulers of Luxembourg, as well as the sarcophagus of King John the Blind of Bohemia.

Pay attention to the tomb of the rulers of Luxembourg, as well as the sarcophagus of King John the Blind of Bohemia.

The exterior of the temple is worth talking about separately. As mentioned above, built at the border of two styles - Gothic and Renaissance - it can boast of both the features of Gothic severity and the softness of the Renaissance. For example, powerful choirs and majestic sculptures coexist here, as well as lavishly decorated tomb crypts made in the Moorish style.

What’s especially nice is that the cathedral is still operational and belongs to the Catholic Church, so there are always a lot of pilgrims from Rome and other countries here. You can admire the living church, where a spark of faith glimmers, where prayers are whispered and where people come to confession, every day (it is better to plan a visit before or after the mass, so as not to disturb the parishioners).

Every 3rd, 4th and 5th Sunday after Easter, thousands of pilgrims from all over the Old World flock to the cathedral to venerate the patroness of Luxembourg - the Holy Virgin Consoler.

Address: Uewerstad, Luxemburg City.

Late in the evening, loaded with impressions and half-dead from a many-kilometer walk through Luxembourg squares, streets and various attractions, we entered the hotel. My legs were buzzing and I had only one desire - to immerse myself in a hot bath and lie down on the bed. And I was still hungry. And while we were soaking, my husband (guardian angel!) disappeared somewhere - and half an hour later he had a picnic right on the blankets.

The decoration of the “table” was herring and eel from Utrecht, which we transported through Holland and the whole of Luxembourg. But as a drink, a surprise awaited me personally - Baltika beer, which I adored in Russia. Going out into the street in search of something to eat, my husband came across a Russian zucchini. In a nutshell, the guys told him a lot of interesting things about Russians in Luxembourg, loaded him with delicious food and gave him beer to take away! Since it was strictly forbidden to take bottles out, the beer was poured into some kind of bag. It was from this package that I enjoyed its life-giving power.

Tired but overexcited, we could not fall asleep for a long time. And they remembered what they saw. It is simply impossible to tell about everything. I will focus on the most important sights and stories of that day.

Bell "Luxembourg"
Collection of V. Kolobov

Bell "Luxembourg"
Collection of I. Lapina

Palace of the Grand Dukes

The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Luxembourg owes its construction to a great fire. According to historical chronicles, in 1554 lightning struck the Franciscan church, next to which there was a gunpowder warehouse. Almost the entire Upper City burned down, and, in addition to restoring the temple, it was necessary to build a new town hall. In 1572 it was finally built.

The interior decoration of the building changed with each new owner. The furniture was updated here, following the latest fashion trends of those years. So, it served first as a town hall for the Luxembourgers, then it became the residence of the French administration, and later of the Dutch governors. Perhaps the most notable owner of this palace was Napoleon himself, when French troops settled in Luxembourg.

And only in 1890 this beautiful and elegant building became the palace of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg. By the way, the architecture of the palace has its own characteristics: the right part of the 16th century is in the style of the Spanish Renaissance (there are even Moorish motifs on the facade), the middle part dates back to the 18th century, and the left part, completed in the 19th century, belongs to the French Renaissance.

During the Second World War, the palace was badly damaged. The family of the Grand Dukes was forced to go into exile, and the Nazis, having captured the palace, took priceless works of art from here and placed it... a tavern (!).

In 1945 the ducal family returned, and since then the palace has become their working residence. From the Yellow Room, the current Grand Duke wishes the people of the country a Merry Christmas every Christmas Eve. On the ground floor there are formal halls and offices used for meetings and audiences. Receptions and banquets in honor of distinguished guests are held in the Ballroom.

You can get to the palace on a tour and admire the environment in which the richest monarch in Europe works from mid-July to the end of August. It is worth paying attention to 2 vases and a table made of malachite, presented to Prince Guillaume, who was present at the coronation ceremony of Nicholas II in 1894.

The current owner of the palace is Grand Duke Henri. His presence inside is evidenced by the guard of honor at the entrance to the palace. When the Duke is at home, there are two guards on guard! If the Duke is away, then there is only one guard (!).

There is no pomp or excessive luxury in the appearance of the palace. If it weren’t for the flag above the residence, not for the guardhouse and not for the guardsman steadily walking back and forth, and if it weren’t for the inscription on the tourist map, we would never have thought that this was a government residence.

Grand Duke Henri inherited the throne from Grand Duchess Charlotte. She ruled the country for 45 years and under her rule Luxembourg became the economic miracle of Europe. The people love their rulers. According to the latest poll, more than 60 percent of the population trusts the Grand Duke. The city has many monuments to monarchs, including Grand Duchess Charlotte and Grand Duchess Henrietta.

Monument to Princess Amalia of Sachs-Weimar-Eisenach

Monument to Grand Duchess Charlotte

Perhaps someday the little Princess Amalia, who was recently born into the family of Prince Felix and Princess Claire, will inherit the throne. They named her in honor of Princess Amalia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Princess Amalia was the daughter-in-law of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg and King of the Netherlands Guillaume II (we talked about him in the first essay). They say that it was she who played decisive role in resolving the crisis of 1867, when the duchy could lose its independence. Together with her husband, Princess Amalia went to St. Petersburg to negotiate with Tsar Alexander II to gain support Russian Empire against France, which had its own plans for Luxembourg in the conflict with Prussia. The Second Treaty of London, signed soon after, finally decided the fate of Luxembourg, declaring it a neutral independent state.

As you can see, Russia has helped this small country more than once since Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna became Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

The Cathedral of Notre Dame of Luxembourg (another Notre Dame) was originally the church of the Jesuit Order. who built it in 1613–21. After 150 years, namely, in 1773, the order was expelled from the country, and the church became a parish, named in honor of St. Nicholas, and even later - the Church of St. Teresa. And only in 1870, the cathedral, consecrated by Pope Pius IX, became the Cathedral of Notre Dame of Luxembourg. At the same time, the temple was presented with a miraculous image of the patroness of Luxembourg - the Virgin Comforter. Since then, pilgrims from many countries of the world have been flocking to it. Every year on the fifth Sunday after the holy holiday of Easter, city residents celebrate the day of the Holy Virgin of Luxembourg, and then the miraculous image is taken out of the cathedral and carried through the city along a route laid out in the Middle Ages.

The cathedral is beautiful and solemn: richly decorated choirs, beautiful paintings of the central nave, magnificent stained glass windows with biblical scenes, many divine sculptures and the crypt-tomb of the Grand Dukes of Luxembourg Adolphe, William IV. The sarcophagus of the King of Bohemia and Count of Luxembourg, John the Blind, also rests here.

St. Michael's Church

The Catholic Church of St. Michael is easy to find - on the left side the entrance is decorated with the familiar statue of a warrior with a spear, under whose feet there is a huge snake. The church traces its history back to a small castle chapel, built in 987 by order of Count Siegfried. Since then, it has been destroyed, restored and rebuilt several times. And all that remains of the old chapel is the Renaissance-style portal.

The church acquired its current appearance, combining Romanesque and Baroque styles, under Louis XIV in 1688: evidence of this is the three lilies on the facade of the building. The church is the only building in the city untouched by the French Revolution. According to legend, the revolutionaries were stopped by the similarity of St. Michael's headdress with the symbol of the revolution - the Phrygian cap.

Casemates Bock

The Bock casemates are a unique landmark of Luxembourg that we discovered by accident. We saw the entrance, read that it was a dungeon and decided to buy tickets. We left 2 hours later, completely stunned. We didn’t even suspect that this was possible!

Rarely has a fortress possessed such a unique complex of underground passages and labyrinths as the Luxembourg fortifications. They began to be built under Spanish rule in the mid-17th century. Some tunnels went to a depth of more than 40 m. What kind of moles dug them!

Although the main construction began under the Spaniards, many passages remain from the Romans. By building new ones and connecting them with old ones, the Luxembourgers created a stunning underground labyrinth, which brought the city the glory of “the Gibraltar of the north.”

In 1867, the London Congress, trying to give Luxembourg the status of a neutral country, decided to dismantle the fortifications. Some went towards building houses. However, most of it, 17 km out of 23, has been preserved and is open to the public.

The most impressive thing is the path through a dark tunnel, sparingly lit by lamps, and suddenly - a cave with a window. You approach and you freeze with fear and admiration: the height is serious - 100 meters above the rock. Some windows are covered with bars for security, and some of them are guarded by cannons. And what a view from the observation decks!

During World War II, citizens hid here from air raids. They say that even today, underground passages lead to casemates from many ancient houses. And what remains from the old fortifications and forts are deep ditches filled with water, bridges and 3 towers standing above the cliff. Due to their specific shape, these towers were called “Three Acorns”.

About Pushkin's descendants

One more interesting story, connected with Russia, we learned when the guys from the bar told us that there is a Pushkin House in Luxembourg. This is about family relations, which included Pushkin’s grandchildren and the ruling dynasties of Luxembourg and Russia.

Pushkin's youngest daughter Natalya Alexandrovna was the wife of the representative of the Luxembourg ducal dynasty, Count Merenberg. Her daughter, Pushkin's granddaughter Sofya Nikolaevna Merenberg, in 1891 became the wife of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich Romanov, grandson of Nicholas I. The marriage was concluded against the will of Alexander III, so the couple were forced to stay in England.

Natalya Alexandrovna's son, Pushkin's grandson George, was married to the daughter of Alexander II from his morganatic marriage with His Serene Highness Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Yuryevskaya (nee Princess Dolgorukaya) and at the beginning of the 20th century laid claim to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

There are no direct descendants of Pushkin left in Russia. With the death of Pushkin's great-grandson, Grigory Grigorievich Pushkin (1997) and his son Alexander Grigorievich (1992), the direct male line of the poet's descendants living in Moscow was interrupted.

Secrets of the Sheep March fountain

One of the nice street monuments that caught our attention was the bronze fountain sculpture "Hammelsmarsch", which translates to "sheep march". This original fountain (1982) commemorates the traditional sheep parade on the opening day of the annual Schueberfouer festival.

An accordionist, a drummer, musicians with wind instruments, children hiding under an umbrella from the rain that pours down on them from pipes and sheep, heroes of the occasion, festively decorated with ribbons and bells - these figures can be looked at for a long time, there are so many interesting details in them.

Thus, a musician playing the accordion is a self-portrait of the sculptor Vila Lofy. If you look closely at his left hand, you can see his raised middle finger in an indecent gesture. They say that in this way Lofi expressed his dislike for the mayor of the city, and maybe even for the prime minister himself!

The annual sheep parade takes place on the opening day of the Schueberfouer fair. Farmers with dressed up sheep, accompanied by musicians playing the "Sheep March", walk through the streets of the city and invite townspeople to a holiday.

A bit of geography, history and statistics

The official name of the country is the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. This is the only duchy in the world! Luxembourg, although a “dwarf state,” is the largest among other European “dwarfs”: its area is 2600 square meters. km. The population is about 440 thousand people, the official languages are German and French. The Luxembourgish language is also in use - a Low Germanic dialect with a strong French influence.

There are a lot of signs in French in the city, and it seemed to us that it was more common there, although German can be heard everywhere. Or maybe our “Quebec” ear is more attuned to French. Having heard it, we rejoiced at it as if it were our own, especially after Holland. It was impossible to understand Dutch at all!

The people of Luxembourg are proud of their history and roots. On the walls in the city you can see the national motto - "Mir welle bleiwe wat mir sin" - "We want to remain as we are." The flag of the duchy is very similar to the Dutch one, the only difference being the lighter tone of the lower stripe.

The standard of living here is high. If the average level in Europe is taken as 100 points, then here it is 200! For example, in Germany – 88. One example. Seeing a large palace behind the fence, we decided to ask whose it was. And how amazed they were to see that this was a residence for the elderly.

They say that in this country the most a large number of banks per person. Not so long ago there were at least 150 of them.

The Luxembourg concern "RTL Group" is Europe's largest television, radio broadcasting and production company. It owns 34 television and 33 radio broadcasting stations operating in 12 countries around the world.

Luxembourg is a founding member of the European Union, NATO, the UN, the Benelux Economic Union and the Western European Union.

According to the American organization Heritage Foundation, Luxembourg is ranked first in Europe and fourth in the world in terms of economic freedom. In 2007, Luxembourg recorded the highest legal salary in the European Union.

Luxembourg's National Day is celebrated on June 23, the birthday of Grand Duchess Charlotte.

Green hills and gorges of the Alzette and Petrus rivers, framed by filigree bridges, spiers of city towers and majestic silhouettes of churches, observation decks over cliffs, parks in lush colorful greenery, intricate monuments and majestic statues, semi-dark intricacies of underground passages of old casemates guarded by heavy guns and intriguing pages of historical ties with Russia - this is how we remember clean and cozy Luxembourg, a fabulous city, the capital of a dwarf state that did not get lost in the “patchwork quilt” of Europe.

There was also a large old bell. But, alas, I haven’t learned his story yet... That’s why he’s calling me back to Luxembourg.

Notre Dame Cathedral is located in the south of the small and cozy city of Luxembourg - the capital of the state of the same name. The cathedral was built at the beginning of the 17th century and was used as a church for the Jesuits. Due to the fact that the building was erected at the intersection of two eras, the cathedral has the features and details of a strict gothic style, and soft architecture of the Renaissance.

The interweaving of two historical milestones gave the cathedral an amazing variety of architectural elements, including powerful arches, magnificent sculptures and grandiose tomb crypts made in the Moorish style.

Today, Notre Dame Cathedral of Luxembourg is a place of prayer, confession and pilgrimage for Roman Catholics. The main object of pilgrimage since the 18th century is the image of the Mother of God - the Comforter of the Sorrowful.

Notre Dame Cathedral of Our Lady

Cathedral of Notre-Dame of St. Our Lady is a Roman Catholic cathedral in southern Luxembourg. The building with Renaissance and late Gothic elements was erected in 1613-1621 according to the design of the architect Du Block. The cathedral went through many changes, first in the 17th century it was the Collegiate Church of the Jesuits, then - St. Teresa, and only in 1870 the temple received its current name - the Cathedral Church of Our Lady of Luxembourg.

Notre Dame Cathedral is located on the main square of Luxembourg, in the southern part of the city. The cathedral is famous for the image of the patroness of the city - the Holy Virgin of Luxembourg, which receives pilgrims from all over the world on Easter. The statue of the “Comforter of the Sorrowful” is carried along the route established in the 12th century, where it is placed on the altar near the temple. The interior decoration of the church is amazing, especially the Moorish-style choir, bronze lions and tapestries that decorate the entrance to the crypt-tomb of the Grand Dukes. The three majestic towers of the Church of the Holy Mother of God are the symbol of the city. The cathedral is open daily.