The best museums Echternach

The Abbey Museum, housed in the vaulted cellars of the former abbey, is a must in Echternach. You will admire the magnificently illuminated manuscripts from the scriptorium of the abbey of Echternach, one of the most famous in Europe from the 8th to the 11th century. These are facsimiles which are presented because the original works were scattered throughout Europe. For example, the evangeliary of St Willibrord is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France. A second part of the museum evokes the work of Saint Willibrord, his time and his provenance.

It is one of the largest Roman villas in Central Europe! The Villa of Echternach was discovered in 1975, during the earthworks of the artificial lake in the place called Schwarzuecht: vestiges of walls are touched by excavators. Excavation work then began. It is the original name of this house, the Villa Epternacum, which would have given the name of the city of Echternach.

The museum.Located at the entrance of the site, it exhibits reconstructed scenes of Gallo-Roman daily life with life-size models and models, which give a glimpse of the luxurious interior of the house.

The Hortus Amoenus, the adjoining garden, contains no less than 70 species of medicinal and ornamental plants grown in Roman times. A pergola covered with vines is also accessible.

The Roman villa.The main buildings were 118 m long and 62 m wide and had nearly seventy rooms on the first floor. The villa, extremely luxurious, was composed of rich materials and perfectly decorated: frescos on the walls, marble and mosaics for the ground, bathrooms heated by hypocaust, fountain and large ornamental basin. The 10 hectares of land also included ten annex buildings. The villa was modified and enlarged several times between the 1st and^5th centuries AD before falling into ruin and being used as a "quarry" for reused stones.