User:Dr Gangrene/Glacis

The Glacis Chapel is a Catholic chapel in Luxembourg City belonging to the Luxembourg Notre-Dame parish.

The chapel is dedicated to the birth of the Virgin Mary. Its feast day is 8 September.

It is located on the Glacis square in the Limpertsberg quarter, at the roundabout where the Boulevard Joseph II, the Rue Nicolas Adames and the Boulevard de la Foire intersect.

History
The current Glacis Chapel is located 100 metres from the location of a previous chapel had stood, the Notre-Dame chapel from 1628, also called the Neipuertskapell or "New Gate chapel". The "new" Glacis chapel was built at the wishes of Bishop Nicolas Adames, according to plans by state architect Charles Arendt; it was consecrated in 1885 by Bishop Jean Joseph Koppes.

The Glacis chapel was erected in memory of the only stone structure authorised at the time in the Glacis area, namely the old chapel of Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted, which disappeared in 1796. The original chapel had been situated roughly on the old electric tramway station now located on the lower Glacis area, on the side of the Notre-Dame cemetery. As it was not possible to rebuild the chapel in its old location, the current Glacis chapel was built in 1885 at the foot of the old Fort Marie.

The new chapel was initially conceived as a "chapel of peace", in grateful memory of Luxembourg being spared in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. The Bishop of Luxembourg recounted the origins of this memorial: "At the beginning of 1870 [sic] when our country was again exposed to great dangers, I received by post an anonymous letter from Belgium (dated 2 January 1871) saying that if I wanted the Blessed Virgin to still protect our country in future as she once did, I must vow to rebuild the old chapel of the Blessed Virgin outside the New Gate".

Like the adjacent chaplain's house, the chapel was the work of the Luxembourgish architect Charles Arendt. Its interior was laid out as a memorial to Luxembourg's national history. The vague secular attempts to create a Diocese just for Luxembourg did not culminate until 1870, with the nomination of the Luxembourger Nicolas Adames, the creator of the current Glacis Chapel, as first Bishop of Luxembourg (1870-1883). Confronted with a Protestant monarchic dynasty and a mostly anti-clerical political class, the Bishop of Luxembourg saw himself as the guide of the Luxembourgish people, as he supposedly embodied their religious and national aspirations. These convictions were expressed in his funeral monument combining the coat of arms of the Virgin Mary and a red lion, le tout couronné par des merlons de fortification; une œuvre de Charles Arendt.

At the entrance to the nearby Notre-Dame cemetery there is a commemorative plaque to this first chapel on the Glacis, which was destroyed in 1796 by French Revolutionary troops.

On 31 January 2020 the chapel was classed as a National Monument.

Bells
Until 2016 the chapel had just one bell, named Maria, with a "mi" tone. On 2 September 2016 on the occasion of the traditional mass for the fairground entertainers of the Schueberfouer, a second bell was blessed in the chapel with the name Jacques Brocquart. This bell with the a "do#" tone was donated by the Franciscan sisters and came from their Grevenmacher convent founded in 1869, which was demolished in 2010.

Windows
Six large windows from the year 1966 by Emile Probst and his wife Denise Probst-Massin form a cycle depicting the history of veneration of the Virgin Mary in Luxembourg. They were installed in 1966 on the 300th anniversary of the election of Mary as patron of the city of Luxembourg.

Chronology

 * 1624: The Jesuit priest Jacques Broquart leads the first procession with the statue of Our Lady of Consolation.
 * 1628: Consecration of the first Glacis chapel, the Notre-Dame chapel or Neipuertskapell (New Gate chapel)
 * 1640-1642: The chapel is expanded with a rectangular construction.
 * 1666: The Virgin Mary is declared the patron of the city.
 * 1678: The Duchy of Luxembourg and the County of Chiny also declare Mary their patron.
 * 1684: The city was destroyed; the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to the soldiers above the walls.
 * 1796: During the French Revolutionary period, the Notre-Dame chapel was desecrated and destroyed in 1796. The statue of the Virgin Mary was movied to the Jesuit church (now the Cathedral).
 * 1866: Bicentenary, the statue of Our Lady of Luxembourg is given a crown (from Pope Pius IX) by the Papal legate.

Noteworthy sights
The large wall tapestry in the choir was installed in 1966 for the tricentenary, like the windows. It depicts Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted and was made by E. Probst and his wife.

The chapel contains the graves and gravestones of the two first Bishops of Luxembourg, Nicolas Adames and Jean Joseph Koppes.