Longwy: Vauban's Star and the Enamels of Longwy
Grand Est, France
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Longwy Enameller
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200
XP
+100 France
= 300 total
1 day
Longwy: Vauban's Star and the Enamels of Longwy
200 + 100 XP
The upper town of Longwy was built for Louis XIV as a new fortified town on a star plan — a hexagon of six bastions designed by Vauban, raised between 1679 and about 1692 — and since 2008 it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list with the other major Vauban sites. Its southern gate, the Porte de France, still carries a drawbridge and an arched bridge over his ditches. The faience works Charles Régnier founded in the town in 1798 turned around 1870 to enamels answering the French taste for cloisonné from the Far East, and the émaux de Longwy made it famous; the technique is now on France's register of intangible cultural heritage.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Cross Vauban's ditches on foot through the Porte de France, over its drawbridge and arcaded bridge, then walk to the north side of the upper town and find that nothing at all is left of the Porte de Bourgogne except a quarter that still carries its name
2
of 5
Walk what is left of the enceinte and count the six bastions of Vauban's hexagonal town, built between 1679 and about 1692 under Thomas de Choisy, working out where the First World War bombardment took whole sections of wall out of the circuit
3
of 5
In the municipal museum of enamels and faience, find the Iznik-taste fountain — broken into about a hundred pieces by mishandling and put back together by Christian Leclercq, Meilleur Ouvrier de France 1972 — and the tiger dish attributed to Amédée de Caranza
4
of 5
At one of the working faienceries, watch the émaux cernés done: the design printed in black on the raw biscuit, then every cell filled drop by drop because enamel dries the instant it touches the porous surface, and at the end raw sienna rubbed over the glaze to bring out the crackle — thirty to fifty hours of one decorator's time on a single piece
5
of 5
Find a piece in the D188 pattern — white and pink apple blossom scattered over a cerulean blue ground, Japanese-inspired, first made in 1885 and still produced — and compare the modern version against an old one
Cross Vauban's ditches on foot through the Porte de France, over its drawbridge and arcaded bridge, then walk to the north side of the upper town and find that nothing at all is left of the Porte de Bourgogne except a quarter that still carries its name
Walk what is left of the enceinte and count the six bastions of Vauban's hexagonal town, built between 1679 and about 1692 under Thomas de Choisy, working out where the First World War bombardment took whole sections of wall out of the circuit
In the municipal museum of enamels and faience, find the Iznik-taste fountain — broken into about a hundred pieces by mishandling and put back together by Christian Leclercq, Meilleur Ouvrier de France 1972 — and the tiger dish attributed to Amédée de Caranza
At one of the working faienceries, watch the émaux cernés done: the design printed in black on the raw biscuit, then every cell filled drop by drop because enamel dries the instant it touches the porous surface, and at the end raw sienna rubbed over the glaze to bring out the crackle — thirty to fifty hours of one decorator's time on a single piece
Find a piece in the D188 pattern — white and pink apple blossom scattered over a cerulean blue ground, Japanese-inspired, first made in 1885 and still produced — and compare the modern version against an old one
Before you go
On Ascension Thursday Longwy holds a collectors' fair with exhibitions and new collections, and both museums and the working faienceries open together.
The museum of enamels and faience has stood in the old military manutention building inside the citadel at Longwy-Haut, but a move down to the former Banque de France in Longwy-Bas was relaunched in 2019 for a 2023 opening — check which site is open before setting off. Two working faienceries carry the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label, the Manufacture des Émaux de Longwy 1798 and Émaux de Longwy Saint Jean l'Aigle, the latter with its own private technical museum and archive.
The museum of enamels and faience takes a winter closure from 22 December to 22 February, and the rest of the year it opens afternoons only, 2pm to 5pm, Tuesday to Sunday, closed Mondays and on 1 May — groups can still book during the winter closure. The Porte de France, Vauban's ditches and the ramparts of the star-shaped upper town are open ground and walkable in any weather; the museum is housed in the Porte de France itself, so you will be standing at its door either way.
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About Grand Est
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
200 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
300 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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