St. Maurice

I'm always a tad hesitant to rush and see a castle in Europe, for the simple reason that they have been so completely re-done. Granted, they mostly fell into disrepair and were abandoned. Upkeep was enormous and one can see why they fell into ruin.

But Vianden, Luxembourg has got it goin' on.....it is a wonderful castle in a spectacular setting and the attention to detail was wonderful. Take a look. Granted, this is all rehabbed, but they stayed true to the original (save for some electrical lighting and modern plumbing),

This castle dates to the 1300's and was a Roman garrison prior to that. It commands the valley and today the town nestles up against the fortress so well that we walked right past it when we were intent about climbing the hill.

Best of all, they had lots of historic photos. The process of rebuilding Vianden Castle was fully documented. The "windows" above, for example, are original (to some era) and they have been preserved. It was the best castle I have seen in Europe...granted....have not seen all that many. But if you care to start somewhere. I suggest Vianden, Luxembourg.

Back in the car and we are off to Clervaux where they have another "castle" and this one was more of an estate which had been rehabbed but best of all, it had the most comprehensive history and recreation of Luxembourg castles anywhere. I loved it too.

Suffice it to say, Clervaux put on a master class in the history of castles and now I am inspired to return to Luxembourg and spend a week touring just castles and their history.

But there was so much more to Clervaux because we spied the spire of a monastery up the hill from the town and so we took this path.

And discovered this monastery.

The Abbaye St. Maurice....and while he did not speak of the pompitous of love.....he was revered from Roman times.

We walked into the book store and were told we could go into the chapel. It was constructed in the early 1900's.

What was so remarkable was that this was an active Monestary with actual monks going about religious things....like selling trinkets and making apple wine and praying and caring for the place. St. Maurice was in the Roman Army in the 300's and was told to kill a bunch of Christians. He refused and was killed himself and so is revered today. He became a martyr. They named this impressive abbey after him.

On our return back down the hill we tried the doors of the local Roman Catholic Church.

And once again.....in Clervaux, Luxembourg....were not disappointed.

Sts. Come et Damien Church in Clervaux. This church is just down the hill from St. Maurice's Monastery, and it too was constructed in the early 1900's. There must have been a lot of positive religious energy in Clervaux at the time. Still is......

It was a good day in the two cities of Vianden and Clervaux and we were most impressed with Luxembourg. 

Peace,  Bob