Mont St. Jean, Luxembourg
Luxembourg · Europe
About
Mont St. Jean (Luxembourgish: Gehaansbierg, Johannisberg) is a hill, castle, and religious site in the commune of Dudelange, in southern Luxembourg. The summit is at 417 metres (1, 368 ft). Mont St. Jean has probably been a point of religious interest since pre-Christian times. The annual pilgrimage to St. John's Chapel, on the summit, on St. John's Eve (23 June) was accompanied in the Middle Ages by ecstatic dancing. The ritualistic dance, a surviving example of which is found at Echternach, was supposedly performed to ward off St. Vitus Dance, but is possibly a relic of pagan times. A castle and commandery of the Order of St. John were built at Mont St. Jean in the sixteenth century; the site belonged to the von Isenburg family at this time. In 1937, Stations of the Cross were constructed, which are used on St. John's Eve to this day.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.