The Holy Ghost Plateau - 30 years of the Luxembourg World Heritage Site
Virtual tour through a part of the UNESCO-protected historic urban landscape.
The Holy Ghost Plateau, its former barracks, the citadel, the casemates and the rondels (the only bastions with rounded shapes of the fortress of Luxembourg) constitute an important site that was recognised as worthy of protection and promotion in the agreements of the World Heritage Committee (Helsinki 2001). It is a site where the interior and exterior of the defence system connects visitors with the historic urban landscape protected by UNESCO.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the recognition of Luxembourg's “Old quarters and fortifications” as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 17 December 1994, the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Documentation Centre of Luxembourg Fortress at the National Museum of Archaeology, History and Art (CDF/MNAHA), is making the Citadel of the Holy Ghost digitally accessible in the form of a 3D scan.
The virtual tour ‘for all’ through the casemates of the Holy Ghost citadel is part of the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 10 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda: ‘Reduce inequality within and among countries’. The International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable Cities, launched by UNESCO, supports local authorities in their efforts to combat discrimination in relation to cultural activities. Participation in cultural life is a right recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Promoting cultural participation for all people helps to build more inclusive, innovative and resilient societies.
This tour demonstrates a different defence system to the Petruss and Bock casemates and to the casemates of the Front de la plaine. Within the CDF, it is part of the project to 3D digitise the underground heritage of the fortress, which began in 2018 as part of the guided tours of the Musée Dräi Eechelen ‘À l'assaut du Kirchberg’, followed by the 3D survey of the casemates under the ‘Kinnekswiss’, which began in 2022 and is still ongoing.
The Citadel of the Holy Spirit in modern times
The Citadel of the Holy Spirit unites all the key eras of the fortress of Luxembourg. The first fortifications on the plateau, two so-called bastions ‘du Grund’ and ‘du Saint-Esprit’, date back to the foundation phase of the fortress in the late Renaissance period from 1551 to 1553.
The roundels were built from 1611. During the Thirty Years' War, which saw a considerable expansion of the fortifications, the old bulwarks were converted into bastions.
The construction of the citadel, the last place of refuge and retreat in the event of an attack, was completed in 1674, which was built on the site of today's ‘Kanounenhiwwel’ and bears witness to the last construction period under the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs.
After Louis XIV, King of France, captured the fortress in 1684, the military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban converted the plateau into a citadel. As a result, the order of the Poor Clares, who had maintained the Convent of the Holy Ghost, had to leave the site. Barracks for the soldiers of the garrison were now set up there.
During the time of the Austrian Habsburgs, the actual casemates were driven into the rock between 1746 and 1751 under the direction of the engineer Philippe Delaing.
A century later, the viaduct connecting the Heilig-Geist-Plateau with the railway station in 1861 became the most extensive architectural intervention in the era of the Federal Fortress (1815-1866).
Text: Simone Feis, Ralph Lange, Robert L. Philippart, François Reinert.
Realisation: Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Centre de documentation sur la forteresse de Luxembourg/Musée Dräi Eechelen (MNAHA), in collaboration with Op Der Schock Asbl and SC Ateliers d'inclusion professionnelle.
Technical realisation: invisible.lu