The north portal
Twisted columns with Renaissance and Baroque detail.
Berthold Werner — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Michał Jaroszczyk — CC BY 3.0 · GilPe — CC BY-SA 4.0 · GilPe — CC BY-SA 4.0
Luxembourg's most important annual religious occasion: two weeks in spring when pilgrims come to the cathedral to honour the icon of the Virgin as Consoler of the Afflicted, patroness of the city and the country since the seventeenth century. Markets are held on the adjoining square and it ends with a large procession through the streets. If you visit in May, expect a crowded centre and a festive rather than touristic atmosphere.
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Notre-Dame is Luxembourg's principal church, built originally in 1613 as the church of a Jesuit college, then raised to cathedral rank in 1870 when the diocese of Luxembourg became independent. Its style is an unusual mixture: the structure is late Gothic with ribbed vaults, but the ornament and doorways carry Renaissance and Baroque detail, reflecting a long building history and twentieth-century extensions that added three new towers. The northern portal with its twisted columns is among its clearest features. In the crypt lies the tomb of the grand ducal family, alongside that of John the Blind, King of Bohemia and Count of Luxembourg, killed at the battle of Crécy in 1346 while completely blind, having asked his knights to tie his horse's bridle to theirs so they could lead him into the fighting. The cathedral is the focus of an annual May pilgrimage to the icon of the Consoler of the Afflicted, the country's patroness.
Twisted columns with Renaissance and Baroque detail.
The reigning family's tomb, and John the Blind.
Rue Notre-Dame, 2240 Luxembourg