Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Église fortifiée

In medieval times the church and village belonged to the Abbaye Saint-Pierre in Marcilhac-sur-Célé (25kms east). The fortified church, in the center of the village, is dated to the 15th century, what probably was the time it was rebuilt and got fortified. There are medieval/Romanesque parts, that origine from a previous building. Seen to the right is the "Maison des templiers". Here the Knights Templar supported the pilgrims on their way to Rocamadour (35 kms north).

In medieval times the church and village belonged to the Abbaye Saint-Pierre in Marcilhac-sur-Célé (25kms east). The fortified church, in the center of the village, is dated to the 15th century, what probably was the time it was rebuilt and got fortified. There are medieval/Romanesque parts, that origine from a previous building. The altar has four baroque pillars, the frescoes above crumble.

In medieval times this village belonged to the Abbaye Saint-Pierre in Marcilhac-sur-Célé (25kms east). The fortified church, in the center of the village, is dated to the 15th century, what probably was the time it was rebuilt and got fortified. There are medieval/Romanesque parts, that origine from a previous building.

St. Arbogast is the only church in Switzerland that is surrounded by a defensive wall. A church has existed here already in the 5th century. Mid 12th century the erection of a Romanesque church started, but it got never completed, due to the Basel earthquake of 18 October 1356, the most significant earthquake, historically documented in Central Europe. Rebuilding started in 1359, from around the fortification of the church started and the wall around the church got built. It is 7 metres high! The interior walls of the church once were covered with frescoes, dating back to 1450/1500. They were hidden under plaster but since the 1970s are renovated and can be seen again. Some of the frescoes are attributed to Martin Schongauer. When the frescoes were created, Martin Luther had not written down the the "Ninety-Five Theses", that started the Reformation in 1517, so it is now wonder to see Saint James (St. Jaques) here as a pilgrim. Things changed dramatically very soon, as the Swiss Reformators (Zwingli, Calvin, Oekolampad..) had a way more radical approach, than their Lutherian collegues in Germany. In February 1529 a group of about 200 people forced their way into the (at that time still catholic) Muenster in Basel (only about 6kms apart from Muttenz,) and destroyed all reachable crucifixes, statues and altars, just everything what was connected to "idolatry" in their thinking. The same afternoon the iconoclasm extended to many other churches in Basel as well. Erasmus of Rotterdam was an eyewittness of the iconoclasm and wrote about it.

St. Arbogast is the only church in Switzerland that is surrounded by a defensive wall. A church has existed here already in the 5th century. Mid 12th century the erection of a Romanesque church started, but it got never completed, due to the Basel earthquake of 18 October 1356, the most significant earthquake, historically documented in Central Europe. Rebuilding started in 1359, from around the fortification of the church started and the wall around the church got built. It is 7 metres high! The interior walls of the church once were covered with frescoes, dating back to 1450/1500. They were hidden under plaster but since the 1970s are renovated and can be seen again. Some of the frescoes are attributed to Martin Schongauer.

St. Arbogast is the only church in Switzerland that is surrounded by a defensive wall. A church has existed here already in the 5th century. Mid 12th century the erection of a Romanesque church started, but it got never completed, due to the Basel earthquake of 18 October 1356, the most significant earthquake, historically documented in Central Europe. Rebuilding started in 1359, from around the fortification of the church started and the wall around the church got built. It is 7 metres high! There are two gates and seen on the right an ossuary, built in 1513.

St. Arbogast is the only church in Switzerland that is surrounded by a defensive wall. A church has existed here already in the 5th century. Mid 12th century the erection of a Romanesque church started, but it got never completed, due to the Basel earthquake of 18 October 1356, the most significant earthquake, historically documented in Central Europe. Rebuilding started in 1359, from around the fortification of the church started and the wall around the church got built. It is 7 metres high!