Sélestat Travel Guide

 JLBG Says:  The central nave is very elegant with its plain Romanesque vaults built in pale pink-grey sandstone. The pulpit stands on the left (see next tip). The stained glass windows date from the 19th century restoration. 

 JLBG Says:  The pulpit was carved in 1619 by Jérôme (Hieronimus) Kruch, a sculptor from Sélestat. It was built in grey sandstone that was painted with various colors. Samson, clad in a lion’s skin, holds the chair. The pulpit itself is decorated with the statue of several saints that... 

 JLBG Says:  The pulpit is not Romanesque and was made in 1733 out of painted wood following the design of Ignace de Saint-Lô. On top, the statues are allegoric representation of the four continents. The ramp of the stairs is decorated with scenes from the life of Saint François Xavier 

 JLBG Says:  The first photo shows the central nave with in the background the organ and on the right the pulpit (see next tip)The second was shot the other way and shows the stained glass window with the chair on the left.The third photo shows the side nave.The pillars and vaults are... 

 JLBG Says:  This building stands just outside the old city center of Sélestat, along the free parking lot where we parked our car. It is a school, College Beatus Rhenanus. I took this photo because I felt that the main building, with its two aisles flanking a central part was a good... 

 JLBG Says:  As the city grew southwards, a city entrance topped by a watchtower was built in 1280.It is named the Tour-porte. In the 17th, it was added with four look-out turrets, one on each corner and covered with a bulb roof. This gives it a look of its own, not found anywhere else. 

 JLBG Says:  The Tour des Sorcières (witches tower) was built between 1217 and 1390.It was part of the 1217 city wall. It was mainly used as a prison for women accused of witchery, before they were burned to death. This gave it the name of Tour des Sorcières. 

 JLBG Says:  In a small yard between the Maison Régionale du pain and Saint-Georges church, a series of half broken old tombstones stand along a wall. I have been unable to decipher any of them and find a date. I have not found anywhere information about them. I suppose that I might have... 

 JLBG Says:  The first photo shows the old house that was the seat of the guild of bakers. It has been rehabilited and since 2001, it is the" Maison Régionale du pain " (Regional house of bread).It is open for visits and traditional ways of bread making are on display.The North side... 

 JLBG Says:  The Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) was built in pink sand stone in a neoclassical style in 1788 on the Place d’Armes (Arms Square). It has porch framed by four plain columns that clearly remind the Greco-Roman antiquity. On top, the motto of France “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” 

 JLBG Says:  On a small square at the end of rue des tailleurs (tailors street), the grinding stone of an ancient corn mill has been kept on display. To make it more real, two bags of flour have been deposited on the soil. Do not kick them, they are not real and soft but made of stone! 

 JLBG Says:  At the corner of an old house, a heavily armoured knight rides an equally armoured horse. He holds in the right hand a spear that seems to transpierce a small flying angel while his left hand holds a shield with a coat of arm with a standing lion (Habsbourg coat of arm?).... 

 JLBG Says:  The Gothic church of the Franciscan convent was built from the 13th through the 15th. In 1878, when Alsace was under German rule, it was turned into a Protestant temple and on this occasion, the nave was put down and only the choir was kept. 

 JLBG Says:  The organ is the sixth that was installed in Sainte Foy Church ! All previous organs have been sold or have disappeared in an unknown way. The present one was built in 1892 by Martin Rinckenbach. It was submitted to several alterations and presently is not working. 

 JLBG Says:  Sainte Foy Romanesque church has the very unusual feature to have three bell towers. The single one was shown in the previous tip while this one shows the twin clock towers that top the main entrance. Though built in the second half of the 12th, these towers underwent major... 

 JLBG Says:  Église Sainte-Foy (Sainte Foy Romanesque church) was built in red sandstone and granite from the Vosges mountains by the Benedictine monks from the Abbey of Conques, in the Rouergues (south east of France) in the second half of the 12th. The single clock tower shown here... 

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 JLBG Says:  This house seems to be woth the interest but unfortunately it is not in good condition and I could not get any information about it. It has an unusual veranda with carved square columns added on three levels, with a balcony on top and an amazing gargoyle (second photo). As...