Question: what do you know about Luxembourg?

If you’re like me, then probably vey little. I guess most of us know that it’s a small country located in continental Europe, bordered by Germany, France and Belgium. And that  French and German is spoken there. But did you know there is also a kind of German Frankish language from the Moselle region called Lëtzebuergesch?  Did you know it is a Grand Duchy, ruled (in a constitutional way) by a Grand Duke?

I hadn’t been to Luxembourg for many years, and then only fleetingly, cutting through on the way from one of its larger neighbours to another.  In my mind it wasn’t much bigger than its capital city, rather like Monaco, or San Marino. I’d forgotten  that it is very much a country, with villages, towns, rivers, forests and mountains, fairy-tale castles, UNESCO world heritage sites and very good wine.

The country has a population of around 500,000, and is 2586 sq km, ( 82km long and 57km wide),

The  border with Germany is formed by the beautiful River Moselle, the hills on both sides, although lower than further downstream towards Koblenz , are also covered by  vineyards.

One of the best known and most dramatic castles in Luxembourg towers above the little village of Vianden.

The picturesque capital, also called Luxembourg is certainly one of the most dramatic cities in Europe, split open  by a  deep, winding tree-filled gorge,  stitched together by  several bridges and viaducts.  The Grand Ducal Palace, the cathedral , the remains of the old fortress adorn the upper city, as well as a beautiful promenade, the Chemin de la Corniche, which has spectacular views down onto the old houses huddled along the river at the foot of the gorge. It is sometimes called Europe’s ‘most beautiful balcony’.

The Grand Ducal Palace

The cathedral

The View down into the 'Grund' from the Chemin de la Corniche

You can walk down into the gorge, passing quaint houses with bright geranium hedges, or you can opt  for the lift that tunnels down from near the law courts at the top and deposits you at the bottom near an old stone bridge over the river.

Views from the old bridge

Of course the country has other attractions to offer besides beautiful scenery, architecture and wine.

Or if you’re feeling adventurous you could try the Parc Merveilleux at Bettembourg, a village not too far from the capital - terrific for kids of all varieties and great for animal conservation in general.

So this is where the serious stuff begins. If you’ve never heard of anything else in Burma (apart from a fleeting familiarity with Mandalay, thanks to Kipling, and Rangoon, thanks to Coward) you will have heard of Pagan, or Bagan as it is sometimes spelled.

 The great kingdom of Pagan was fairly firmly established by the Western Mon people by the tenth century, although the era known as the ‘Pagan Period’ is regarded as dating from the 11^th century (1044-1287). This was when the Burmese leader Anawrahta, conquered the Mon and became the ruler of Pagan. It was during this time that Anawrahta introduced the Theravada Buddhism of Sri Lanka as the state religion. Previously  a variety of religions, including Mahayana Buddhism and nature religions had been predominant in the area. However, Burma continued (and continues to this day) to integrate these other forms of worship into the dominant  Theravada school.

 The people of Burma  were prolific builders of brick and stucco stupas, as well as wooden temples.  Fine Mon and Pyu  buildings had long existed by the time of Anawrahta . The king built upon the traditions of these forerunners, using Pyu craftsmen who were so much more skilled and experienced than the Burmese at the time.  From then onwards stupa and temple building flourished on the plain of Pagan and by the thirteenth century more than 10,000 sacred edifices had been constructed, ranging from small shrines, to magnificent temple-stupas, which were an entirely Burmese innovation. The original  Indian stupa was originally a solid mass, in which was entombed some relic  representing the Buddha. One of these is the great stupa at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh in India.  

 During Anawrahta’s rule Burmese emissaries continued to travel to India – the land of the Buddha  -and brought back architectural plans and ideas for temples and stupas. Over the following centuries they adapted and developed these prototypes: some stupas were still constructed as  solid entities, but some gained an interior and a central shrine and thus morphed into temple-stupas.  

 Of the original 10,000 constructions, some 2000 still stand, like mystical sentries across the  landscape of Pagan. Most are brick and stucco, very few are constructed from stone. Ornamentation is sparse compared with the lavishly stone-carved religious architecture of India. It is the architecture itself that speaks to us: organic, alien, industrial… above all, spiritual.  A sacred  dream world, unmatched anywhere else in the world.

We climbed the steep stairways to the upper terraces of some of these to gasp at the view, explored the interior of others. Some had thus far escaped the Burmese thirst for 'restoration' - which consists of coating the enigmatic old ruins with layers of cement and gold paint. Luckily the gold paint appears to be of poor quality and badly applied, so that in the case of some of the finest old monuments, it is already peeling off, revealing rust-coloured undercoat and giving the whole a rather pleasing 'antiqued' finish.

Shwezigon Pagoda

Views from Dhammayazika Pagoda

 Ananda temple, Pagan