Cents, an eastern plateau of forts and a convent

Most visitors pass through Cents on the way to or from Findel without registering it. The district sits on a plateau north-east of the centre and was farmland until the 1960s, when housing estates and schools arrived. It has no headline sights, but a couple of things here are more interesting than its low profile suggests.

A plateau with its own fortifications

It’s easy to assume the Luxembourg fortress ends at the Bock casemates. Cents keeps pieces of the outer ring. The Fetschenhaff farm, recorded from 1255, became a powder store and then a fort, renamed Fort Dumoulin in 1843. Its casemates were dug out in 2009, though the tourist office points out they aren’t open, as they sit under the scout federation’s headquarters.

What you can see is the redoubt of Fort Rumigny, built in 1688 and known as the Redoute de la Bombarde, which has been restored. If the Luxembourg fortress grabs you beyond what the old town shows, this is a decent add-on.

Why look inside the Holy Spirit church?

Because it’s the youngest in the capital. Consecrated in 1980, it’s described by the city as the most recent church on its territory. It has stained glass by Theo Kerg and sculptures by Peppi Rifesser standing over 5.7 metres tall. In a city where nearly everything religious is medieval or baroque, I find a 1980 church a genuinely curious stop.

Close by is the Carmelite convent, founded in 1937. For more than 75 years its sung services were broadcast by RTL, according to the tourist office.

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A district that grew in the sixties

The long, straight Rue de Trèves has been the road to Trier since the Middle Ages and still shapes the area. The Cité Henri Frommes estate went up in the early 1960s, and in 1963 the national sports institute and the Sportlycée arrived. Until 1920 Cents belonged to the municipality of Hamm, and the tourist office suggests the name may come from the census, a levy paid to Altmünster Abbey.

A rainy weekend option

The Cents pool, 25 by 15 metres, opens to the public on Saturdays from 12:00 to 20:00 and on Sundays from 08:00 to 12:00. With children in tow and grey skies, it’s a simple option away from the centre, and a far cry from the tourist crowds around the palace.

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Getting there

Cents-Hamm station is on the line towards Wasserbillig and Trier, and bus 29 also stops there on its way between Hesperange and Senningerberg via the central station. It’s all free public transport. From here, Hamm and the Luxembourg American Cemetery are right next door, and I’d do them on the same outing, ideally in the morning, leaving the afternoon for the old town.

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