Sélestat - Sainte-Foy

The "Église Sainte-Foy de Sélestat" was built in only 10 years between 1170 and 1180, succeeding an earlier ("Holy Sepulcre")church from around 1085 built by Hildegard von Egisheim. Of this church only the rectangular crypt (and some carvings) remained. Hildegard´s famous grandson Frederick I Barbarossa funded the construction of this new church, that was the center of a benedictine monastery, affiliated to the abbey St. Foy in Conques.

Between 1615 and 1767 Sainte-Foy was a Jesuit college. The jesuits prefered the baroque style and so changed a lot in and around the building. Most of that was erased during the reconstruction in the 1890s. All the carvings on the south side are from this baroque time.

Here is a pig. Probably a pretty realistic one. Three hundred years ago, pigs looked different. These pigs were smaller, less fat and had longer legs and a much longer tail.