Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Mickey Mouse

Maria Hilf Assumptio, the parish church of Malta (pop. 2000), was erected 13th - 15th century. It seems, that the building was started in Romanesque, but completed in Gothic style. Like many churches in the alpine area, there is a large fresco outside, depicting Saint Christopher, patron saint for travellers. As Saint Christopher was a giant, most frescoes are large, this one is 7,50 m high. It was created around 1300 and uncovered and restored in 2002. Like anywhere else there are mythic creatures (eg mermaids) around Saint Christpher´s feet, but here this (exstinct!) "Malta-Mouse" looks pretty much like Disney´s "Micky Mouse". I remember having seen another "Malta Mouse" in Saint-Sauvant (France).

Since the 12th century Saint-Sylvain towers on a promontory overlooking Saint-Sauvant, a village loctaed between Cognac and Saintes. The church, erected on a Latin-Cross-plan, is a typical example for the "style saintongue". All around the apse are lots of corbels. One of them depicts this ancestor of Mickey Mouse. As far as I know, Walt Disney, who claimed to be Mickey´s father, has been in France for about 10 months just after WWI. But has young Mr. Disney ever visited Saint-Sauvant?