Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
As a part of the fortification system of Lëtzebuerg caves and tunnels were created inside the mountains in which the city is located. The first of these Kasematten have been built from the 17th century on. The length of this tunnel system reached around 23 kilometers and within 1,200 soldiers once had been placed.
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People call the Chemin de la Corniche the most beautiful balcony of Europe. In the 17th century French and Spanish forces created protective walls on the mountains above the Alzette valley. Today you’ll find a nice path on top of these former walls which gives you marvelous views on the river valley underneath and the city quarter Grund.
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It’s maybe the most representative building of Lëtzebuerg: the Palais Grand-Ducal (or Groussherzogleche Palais). Today you will mostly just pass by and admire the building, unless you’re a fan of monarchy. The palace is the official residence of the grand duke of Luxembourg and the place where official state guests are welcomed.
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The most important church of Lëtzebuerg is the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Luxembourg directly next to the Hôtel de Ville in the city center. It dates back to the year 1613 and was built in late Gothic style. The crypt contains different European monarchs connected to Luxembourg.
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On a terrace facing the valley of river Pétrusse, next to the city center of Lëtzebuerg, you’ll find a monument with a golden woman on top: the Gëlle Fra. It is a monument erected in 1923 to commemorate the people of Luxembourg who joined the Belgian and French armies during World War I. But it is much more. It symbolizes the independence of the small state of Luxembourg and has a high emotional value to the inhabitants.
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The highlight of the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe at Kassel are the historic water features or water games. To show their power the landgraves were even taming the elements and in this case controlling water: behind the Herkules monument, water is collected in large basins. At dedicated points in time it is floating down the hill without any electricity, creating sounds and fountains. Twice a year this event is started at dawn and the places in the Bergpark are beautifully enlightened – this is called the ‘Beleuchtete Wasserspiele‘.
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When you arrive at София you can’t overlook the mountains next to the city, the Vitosha. It is surprisingly steep and the highest mountain is the Tscherni Wrach (black peak) with around 2,290 meters in height. The mountains dominate the skyline of the city and are an important recreation zone – for hiking, but also for skiing as the snow stays for a long time even after the winter.
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Boyana is a city quarter in the Southwest of София at the foot of the Vitosha mountains. It is the region where the rich people and the leaders of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria created their homes – even the presidential palace and the assembly of ministers can be found here. Most tourists come to this remote part for a small but important beauty: the Boyana church, a UNESCO world heritage site.
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If you visit the bell park of София at the wrong point in time, it might be really loud there. It is a bell tower surrounded by seventy bells from different countries, also some that don’t exist anymore. Children are allowed to try them all out. Why only children? The monument called Kambanite (meaning ‘The bells‘) was created when in 1979 Bulgaria hosted the international children’s festival of UNESCO. Delegations from all over the world brought bells from their countries to complete the monument.
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The oldest and largest park of София is the Borissowa gradina, named after tsar Boris III from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry. It was created in 1884 in the Southeast outside of the city; due to the vast growth of София it is now part of the city center. When you walk through it you can see the different faces of this place: in the North it is a landscape park, further south it is more like a forest.
Continue reading “Giant garden”