24.3.14

Luxembourg (Vianden)


Blogger friends Léia and Cezar kindly brought me to the northeast of Luxembourg - actually a drive of only some 50 km (30 miles) in this modestly sized country - to the little city and the castle of Vianden.
  
Built on the site of a Roman castellum, later a Carolingian refuge, the castle has 10th century origins and later got some gothic and renaissance transformations. The Counts of Vianden were ancestors to the House of Orange-Nassau, meaning linked to most of the European royal families, more especially to the Dutch and Luxembourgish ones. More or less abandoned, the castle was in 1820 sold to be dismantled, but it was soon bought back and partly saved, finally donated to the State in 1977 and since then completely restored.


The castle stands high over the charming little village, actually officially a city, and the river Our.


Close to a bridge you may be surprised to find the bust of Victor Hugo, by Rodin. The reason is that Victor Hugo made several tourist visits to the place and actually spent several months here in 1871, during his totally more than 20 years’ exile. He worked, wrote and even made several drawings and paintings, including the below one of the castle, then in ruins. You can visit the house where he lived, now a museum. 


9 comments:

Alain said...

Bien restauré depuis le passage de Victor Hugo, voir ici.

Olivier said...

le Luxembourg est un superbe petit pays, j'y allais souvent quand je vivais a Nancy. Superbe chateau

Cezar and Léia said...

Vianden est plus adorable quand nous sommes entourés de bons amis pendant notre visite :) Merci!
bise
Léia

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

How great that your blogger friends showed you around here. I have blogger friends in Luxembourg too . Looks fabulous.

Studio at the Farm said...

What a fabulous castle!!! How could anyone even think of demolishing it?

Thérèse said...

J'aime beaucoup beaucoup Vianden et sa campagne environnante. De belles promenades a faire autour, cote frontiere.
De belles images Peter.

claude said...

Petit pays mais grand château et beau en plus.
Merci pour la visite.

Jeanie said...

As soon as Rick learns Victor Hugo hung out there, it'll be on the next itinerary! And that's fine with me -- it's just beautiful; as I always "imagine" Luxembourg to be!

Cergie said...

Un pays de petite superficie et combien de langues parlées, comme en Belgique ? Cela pourrait être une richesse. Mais un Google+ friend luxembourgeois ne comprenait pas le français et je devais le commenter en anglais...
Le château est escarpé et impressionnant, on pourrait se croire dans les Carpates...