Page 259 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Belgium & Luxembourg

GR AND DUCH Y OF L UXEMBOURG  257

on leather-tanning. Both trades y Vallée des Sept
are historically associated with Châteaux
Wiltz. The museum also has its
own micro-brewery and a 20 km (12 miles) SE of Rindschleiden.
Road Map F4. n Hôtel de Ville;
traditional-style bar and bistrot 3250231. ∑ letzebuergwest.lu
called Café Jhang Primus. Wiltz
is also well known for its Open- From Mersch, the River Eisch
air Festival of Theatre and can be followed westwards
Music (see p39). for 37 km (23 miles), on the
CR 105, to Gaichel, on the
E Musée National d’Art Belgian border. This stretch is
Brassicole et de la Tannerie the Vallée des Sept Châteaux
Château de Wiltz. Tel 957444. Open Jul – (Valley of the Seven Castles). A
Aug: 10am–6pm daily; Jan–Jun & Sep– footpath, the Sentier des Sept
Dec: 9am–noon & 2–5pm Mon–Fri, Châteaux, also follows the
10am–noon Sat. & 9 0 valley. The restored medieval
castle at Mersch is now the site
Fairytale flourishes on the handsome castle of the town hall and tourist
r Esch-sur-Sûre of Schoenfels office. The second castle is at
Schoenfels, on CR 102, by the
10 km (6 miles) S of Wiltz. Road Map E4. t Rindschleiden
* 2,480. @ n Rue de l’Eglise 14; River Mamer. This is a tall
26889541. ∑ esch-sur-sure.lu 8 km (5 miles) S of Esch-sur-Sûre. medieval keep revamped in the
Road Map E4. n 889358. ∑ wahl.lu 19th century. Ansembourg has
This village is famous above two castles. The one above the
all for its spectacular setting, The village of Rindschleiden village is of 12th-century origin,
on an oxbow loop of the River is best known for a little and has been home of the
Sûre that virtually performs whitewashed church built counts Marchant d’Ansembourg
a complete circle around it. originally as a chapel in since the 17th century. The
Concentric rings of streets and Romanesque style in the 10th other, in the valley, is a fine
slate-roofed houses cluster at century, and later extended. 17th-century Renaissance
the foot of a jagged outcrop of During the 15th and 16th château with numerous cone-
rock and the ruins of the castle centuries, 170 sq metres roofed turrets. The medieval-
that line the ridge. The castle (1,830 sq ft) of the vaults and looking Château de Hollenfels
dates back to AD 927 and walls inside were painted with dates mainly from the 18th
remained in use until the delicate murals depicting saints. century and serves as a youth
French Revolutionary Army The church was dedicated in hos tel. Septfontaines sits
destroyed it in 1795. West of the 16th century to Willibrord, beneath the impressive ruin of a
Esch-sur-Sûre, the river is saint of Echternach (see p255). 13th–15th century castle, and
dammed, creating a serpentine Close by is a spring which the Koerich, lying south of the
lake that is popular for water saint is said to have divined with route, has another imposing
sports. There are many marked his rod – this is the focus of an ruin of a medieval castle, as well
footpaths for walkers. annual Whitsunday pilgrimage. as a fine Baroque church.

Rustic beauty of the riverside landscape at Esch-sur-Sûre

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