2024

LE CASTEL

Site of archaeology crafts and science and technology

Halfway between Mondorf and Altwies, on the right bank of the Gander, stands a rocky spur, crowned with a chapel. The inhabitants refer to this rocky plateau as the sanctuary, with the name of Castel. Since the definitive establishment of the borders in 1769, the chapel chapel is in French territory.

A refuge for the Celtic populations 2,500 years ago, the rock was reinforced by a Castellum erected by the Romans towards the year 119 of our era. From the time of the Merovingians, a small convent appears to have existed in Castel. In 1237, Countess Ermesinde donated this convent and her chapel, dedicated to the Saint Savior, to the church of Sainte-Madeleine. Then, from 1571, the Castel was cited as a pilgrimage site.

On a framing of the door, the date of 1611 recalls the access of the hermitage to the chapel. A long line of ermites, the last of which died in 1826, lived in the Castel. The current chapel is only the chorus of the ancient church that was here once.

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