On the outskirts of Echternach is located one of the largest and richest estates of the northwestern provinces of the Roman Empire. The completely excavated manor house, measuring 118 x 62 m, was probably a palace. It had 40-70 rooms on the ground floor alone, provided with peristyles, courtyards, basins, marble facing, mosaic pavement and underfloor heating. This magnificent estate consisted of at least ten more buildings, which regularly lined up left and right of the estate wall and were discovered through aerial photographs and geophysical prospecting. Visitors can embark on inspecting the well-preserved basements, cellars and ornamental ponds of the estate, which resurrects in all its splendour thanks to numerous digital reconstructions. More than 70 medicinal and ornamental plants as well as a pergola covered with vines are displayed in a Roman garden.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.