In some cities, going underground means nothing more than using the metro service to get from A to B. However, in Luxembourg one of the very best attractions lies underground. The city is one where the natural topography lends itself well to defence against military invasion, with the plateaux offering vantage points to build fortresses on, such as the Bock, started in 963 by Count Siegfried and the original heart of the city around which the capital grew up. None of this was enough to stop the Burgundians taking over the city in 1443, but they used their time of occupation to build more fortifications, using the best skills of the locals and travelling engineers.
The resulting network of walls, forts and defensive works made Luxembourg a formidably defendable city, with one of the most notable elements being the casemates, a network of underground tunnels in which soldiers could hide and provision[s] be stored, with the rock forming an impregnable defence. One of the most notable networks was that of the Bock Casemates. The Bock itself was razed to the ground in 1875 following the declaration of neutrality by the Grand Duchy eight years earlier. But the casemates remained and make a fascinating place to visit today. The casemates were sealed up in 1875, but having been reopened to tourists in modern times they offer 17 km of tunnels to explore. These are often on different levels and are not just level passages, with many large stairways. Some go as far as 40 metres into the rock. While the passages penetrate a long way, they do not all vanish deep into the interior.
Indeed, the demolition of the Bock means many terminate at the edge of where the remains stand, with only a fence preventing those inside from being able to step out on to thin air and the long drop below! The tunnels are open from 10:00 to 17:00 daily, and are a great place to visit – except for those who are very claustrophobic.
