Balmoral International Group - Luxembourg Tourism

Echternach (Luxembourgish: Iechternach):

• A commune with city status in the canton of Echternach
• Part of the district of Grevenmacher, in easternLuxembourg.
• The historical and cultural center of the Mullerthal Region
• Little Switzerland
• Lies near the border with Germany
• Oldest town (current population 600 inhabitants) in Luxembourg.
• In the center there is a museum of prehistory
• At the lake there are the remains of the largest Roman villa north of the Alps, along with a visitor center and a permanent exhibition.
• Retained its medieval ambience: labyrinthine streets, remains and towers of the ancient city wall and a marketplace with a Gothic town house take the visitor back in time.
• Has a wide cultural offer with a large calendar of events during the summer months:
  • Concerts such as the International Festival of Echternach with classic music in May and June Jazz concerts in September
  • Folklore festivals
  • Flea markets provide a lively atmosphere.

Culture

This is a town which prides itself on its cultural heritage. With so many castles and buildings that were well preserved and renovated, the richness of their culture continues to the invite tourists all over the world to a centre of culture that has been attracting visitors since the middle ages.

Looking east across Echternach.

698         – It was founded by St. Willibrord and grew around the walls of the Abbey of Echternach. St. Willibrord

• An English monk from Ripon,Northumbria(in present-day North Yorkshire, England),
• First bishop of Utrechtand worked to Christianize theFrisians.
• The Echternach monastery‘s abbot
• Died in 739. 
• Dancing procession takes place annually on Whit Tuesday for his honour.

The river Sauer

Today     – forms the border between Luxembourg and Germany that flows past the town now;

In the later – the Sauer did not form a border or march in this area the Roman Empire and under the Merovingians by contrast.

Roman villa at Echternach  is the kargest North of the Alps – the (traces of which were rediscovered in 1975).  Since 1975, Echternach has been the site of an International Music Festival, held annually in May and June.

Echternach continued to have royal patronage from the house of Charlemagne. Though the monks were displaced by the canons of the bishop of Trier between 859 and 971, and although Willibrord’s buildings burned down in 1017, the Romanesque basilica, with its symmetrical towers, to this day houses Willibrord’s tomb in its crypt.

The Trifolion is a generously designed cultural and congress center with a sophisticated program. A large recreational area with lake, bike and hike trails and an adventure playground make a holiday here worthwhile. In addition to hotels and restaurants, there are two campsites and a modern youth hostel situated next to the lake.

The abbey’s library and scriptorium had a European reputation. In 1236 as it flourished, the town of Echternach grew around the abbey’s outer walls and was granted  a city charter .

The abbey was rebuilt in a handsome Baroque style in 1737. In 1797, in the wake of the French Revolution, the monks were dispersed and the abbey’s contents and its famous library were auctioned off. Some of the library’s early manuscripts, such as the famous Echternach Gospels, are now in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. In the 19th century, a porcelain factory was established in the abbey and the town declined, until the advent of the railroad brought renewed life and an influx of tourists.

Two main churches in Echternach

1. Abbey’s Basilica of St Willibrord. It is the larger is the and now surrounded by the eighteenth-century abbey (today a high school).  Located in the heart of the town’s historical centre.
2. Parish church of St Peter and Paul. The nearby Prehistory Museumtraces mankind’s history over the past one million years.

During the World War II, this picturesque town, still surrounded by its medieval walls with towers, was badly damaged in but was subsequently thoroughly restored.

Top Rated Restaurant

Restaurant-Pizzeria du Passage – EUROPEAN

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Ristorante-Pizzeria Giorgio Restaurant

Beaufort Castle 

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