St. Eusebius church is named after the 4th-century saint Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli. On the site of the present building initially stood a church dedicated to St. Martinus but after some relics of St. Eusebius arrived in the town during the early part of the 15th century, it was decided to build a new church dedicated to the saint at the old site. This new structure gradually replaced the old building over the next century, commencing when Arnold, Duke of Egmond laid the first stone in 1452.
The church was extensively damaged during the Second World War following Operation Market Garden in 1944. When the battle over the bridge that crosses the Rhine occurred, between paratroopers under the command of British Lieutenant-Colonel John Dutton Frost and the Germans, the church was completely burnt out. Later the tower, weakened by the fire, collapsed entirely.
Following the war the church was restored between 1946 and 1961. It is no longer used for religious services but rather is a tourist attraction, specifically commemorating the bravery of the paratroopers of the Allied forces who attempted to isolate the Germans by capturing the bridge across the river Nederrijn.
In 1994 the municipality of Arnhem commissioned an elevator to be placed in the church tower. Visitors can pay a small fee and ride up the elevator past all of the array of bell and into the loft of the church, from where tourist binoculars or the naked eye can be used to survey a 360 degree view of the surrounding city.
Visitors are also able to enter the crypt below the building. This part of the building has only very dim light in a central part. By carefully exploring a number of darkened cavernous areas, most of which are either barred as if being a part of old gaol cells, or in some cases as clearly exhumed shallow graves, the visitor can find ancient human bones which have been left in the state of their burial or death.
Saint-Émilion is a picturesque medieval village renowned for its well-preserved architecture and vineyards. The town and surrounding vineyards was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, owing to its long, living history of wine-making, Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow streets.
An oppidum was built on the hill overlooking the present-day city in Gaulish times, before the regions was annexed by Augustus in 27 BC. The Romans planted vineyards in what was to become Saint-Émilion as early as the 2nd century. In the 4th century, the Latin poet Ausonius lauded the fruit of the bountiful vine.
Because the region was located on the route of the Camino de Santiago, many monasteries and churches were built during the Middle Ages, and in 1199, while under Plantagenet rule, the town was granted full rights.