|
The Fortress of Luxembourg refers to the former fortifications of Luxembourg City, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, which were mostly demolished in 1867. The fortress was of great strategic importance for the control of the Left Bank of the Rhine, the Low Countries, and the border area between France and Germany. The fortifications were built gradually over nine centuries, from soon after the city's foundation in the tenth century until 1867. By the end of the Renaissance, Luxembourg was already one of Europe's strongest fortifications, but it was the period of great construction in the 17th and 18th centuries that gave it its fearsome reputation. Due to its strategic location, the fortress became caught up in Europe-wide conflicts between the major powers such as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, the War of the Reunions or the French Revolutionary Wars, and it underwent changes in ownership, sieges, and major alterations, as each new occupier—the Spanish, French, Austrians, and Prussians—made their own improvements and additions. The fortress acquired the historical epithet of "Gibraltar of the North" as a result of its apparent impregnability. In 1795, when the city surrendered after a 7-month blockade and siege by the French, with its walls still unbreached, the French politician and engineer Lazare Carnot declared Luxembourg "the best () in the world, apart from Gibraltar".〔Kreins, Jean-Marie. ''Histoire du Luxembourg''. 3rd edition. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2003. ISBN 978-2-13-053852-3. p. 64〕 The city's great significance for the Franco-German frontier led to the 1866 Luxembourg Crisis, almost resulting in a war between France and Prussia over possession of the German Confederation's main western fortress. The 1867 Treaty of London required Luxembourg's fortress to be torn down and for Luxembourg to be placed in perpetual neutrality, signalling the end of the city's use as a military site. Since then, the remains of the fortifications have become a major tourist attraction for the city. In 1994, the fortress remains and the city's old quarter were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. ==From Roman fortification to medieval castle== In Roman times, two roads crossed on the plateau above the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers, one from Arlon to Trier, and another leading to Thionville. A circular wooden palisade was built around this crossing, which could provide protection to the farmers of the region in case of danger. Not far from this, on the Bock promontory, was the small Roman fortification ''Lucilinburhuc'' – this name later turned into ''Lützelburg'', and later still into Luxembourg.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications )〕 After the Romans had left, the fortification fell into disrepair, until in 963 Count Siegfried of the House of Ardennes, acquired the land in exchange for his territories in Feulen near Ettelbrück from St. Maximin's Abbey in Trier. On the Bock promontory, he built a small castle, which was connected to the plateau through a drawbridge. In time, a settlement grew on the plateau. Knights and soldiers were billeted here on the rocky outcrop, while artisans and traders settled in the area beneath it, creating the long-standing social distinction between the upper and the lower city. The settlement had grown to a city by the 12th century, when it was protected by a city wall adjacent to the current Rue du Fossé. In the 14th century, a second city wall was built, which also incorporated the land of the Rham Plateau. A third one later incorporated the urban area as far as today's Boulevard Royal.〔("History of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg" ), Grand Duché de Luxembourg. Retrieved 29 October 2013.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fortress of Luxembourg」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|