Petrusse casemates

The Place de la Constitution square offers unique views of the Petrusse Valley and the nearby Adolphe Bridge. while it is the site where the entrance to the Petrusse casemates can be found. Like their Bock casemates twins on the other side of the Rock, the Petrusse casemates can also be visited and explored today. There’s a 40 minute guided tour,starting every hour with a small fee of 3 euros that be very informative. There is even an original 1834 cannon in position by an opening in the rocks, left behind by Prussian troops when they moved on.

The origins of the Pétrusse Casemates date back to the time when the Spanish modernised the medieval fortifications and built large bastions such as that of the Beck, whose platform is currently occupied by the Place de la Constitution. In 1673, the Spanish raised the “Ravelin du Pâté” (a half-moon shaped defensive structure) to reinforce the Beck bastion. This fortification is one of the few largely preserved fortifications in Luxembourg City.

The fortress builder Vauban gave the Pétrusse fortifications their present form. In 1728-29, the Austrians built the “Ecluse Bourbon” and the “grand staircase”. In 1746 the casemates, known as the “Batterie de la Pétrusse”, were built. After the 1867 Treaty of London ordered the fortress to be dismantled, the embrasures were bricked up and most of the entrances were closed. After the demolition, about 17 km of the casemates remained.

Petrusse casemates are not open year-round like the bock casemates. Only on specific dates (Easter, summer months etc) and only via a guided tour.Their main difference with bock casemates is that they are not renovated like the bock casemates and therefore give a more genuine feeling of how they actually looked and how they were used. During the tour you will go down the Austrian stairs to exit at the bottom of the city wall.