Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Sélestat

When Charlemagne spent Christmas here in 775, Sélestat was probably little more than a village. Today, Sélestat claims to be the birthplace of the Christmas tree, based on an invoice dating back to 1521. When in 1964 the Knoepfli company opened the shop in what was then a very modern building, it was a big step for the bed and mattress business. After 59 years, the shop was closed and a tenant was sought for the 600m².

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. St. George's Church has always served as the main parish church. Its construction started on the remains of a Carolingian chapel soon after 1200 and was completed at the beginning of the 15th century. Its design is pure Gothic. The choir, the last part to be completed, is the most remarkable element. The construction of the tower continued during the fifteenth century, The church had a rood screen by Conrad Sifer but was destroyed during the French Revolution. Some of the stained glass windows by the choir survived the rough times and still contain sections dated between 1430 and 1460. Here are two of them.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. St. George's Church has always served as the main parish church. Its construction started on the remains of a Carolingian chapel soon after 1200 and was completed at the beginning of the 15th century. Its design is pure Gothic. The choir, the last part to be completed, is the most remarkable element. The construction of the tower continued during the fifteenth century, The church had a rood screen by Conrad Sifer but was destroyed during the French Revolution. Some of the stained glass windows by the choir survived the rough times and still contain sections dated between 1430 and 1460.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. St. George's Church has always served as the main parish church. Its construction started on the remains of a Carolingian chapel soon after 1200 and was completed at the beginning of the 15th century. Its design is pure Gothic. The choir, the last part to be completed, is the most remarkable element. The construction of the tower continued during the fifteenth century, The church had a rood screen by Conrad Sifer but was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. St. George's Church has always served as the main parish church. Its construction started on the remains of a Carolingian chapel soon after 1200 and was completed at the beginning of the 15th century. Its design is pure Gothic. The choir, the last part to be completed, is the most remarkable element. The construction of the tower continued during the fifteenth century, The church had a rood screen by Conrad Sifer but was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. St. George's Church has always served as the main parish church. Its construction started on the remains of a Carolingian chapel soon after 1200 and was completed at the beginning of the 15th century. Its design is pure Gothic, save for a Romanesque side portal. The choir, the last part to be completed, is the most remarkable element. The construction of the tower continued during the fifteenth century, The church had a rood screen by Conrad Sifer but was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. St. George's Church has always served as the main parish church. Its construction started on the remains of a Carolingian chapel soon after 1200 and was completed at the beginning of the 15th century. Its design is pure Gothic, save for a Romanesque side portal. The choir, the last part to be completed, is the most remarkable element. The construction of the tower continued during the fifteenth century, The church had a rood screen by Conrad Sifer but was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. 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 grandson Frederick I Barbarossa funded the construction of the new church, which was the center of a benedictine monastery, depending on the abbey St. Foy in Conques. The 18th and 19th centuries were times of colonization and many European missionaries were activeall over the world, supported by their native communities. This often brought this kind of "exotism" into the churches.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. 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 grandson Frederick I Barbarossa funded the construction of the new church, which was the center of a benedictine monastery, depending on the abbey St. Foy in Conques. There are some old graffiti carved into the walls of the church. Here is a knight.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. 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 grandson Frederick I Barbarossa funded the construction of the new church, which was the center of a benedictine monastery, depending on the abbey St. Foy in Conques. A stonemason at work.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. 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 grandson Frederick I Barbarossa funded the construction of the new church, which was the center of a benedictine monastery, depending on the abbey St. Foy in Conques.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. 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 grandson Frederick I Barbarossa funded the construction of the new church, which was the center of a benedictine monastery, depending on the abbey St. Foy in Conques.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. The library is one of the important cultural treasures of Alsace. Actually, there are two Renaissance humanist libraries involved, the library of the Humanist School and the private library of the famous scholar, Beatus Rhenanus (1485–1547). In 1441, the municipal authorities appointed Ludwig Dringenberg to be the leader of the local Latin school. Dringenberg turned out to be a gifted and committed educator. Under his leadership emerged the first school on the Upper Rhine where Humanist thinking was fostered. His successors increased the reputation of the school further. Thus, the school was the training place of an entire generation of Alsatian Humanists. The school also had a library which steadily grew in extent through endowments and gifts. Beatus Rhenanus bequeathed his entire private library to his home city of Sélestat. This library contained about 670 bound leather volumes at the time of his death in 1547. Even at that time, the library was of inestimable value, since books were only published in small numbers of copies and they were extremely expensive. The library of Beatus Rhenanus is the only larger Humanist library preserved virtually intact, as most other libraries were scattered after the deaths of their owners. The oldest book in the library is a Merovingian manuscript from the 7th century. Since 1889, both libraries have been housed under a single roof in a former covered market

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. The painting seen on the tympanum, is modern (better relatively recent), but the archivolts around and the carvings below and on the sides, depicting angels, griffons and dragons are from the 12th century.

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. Here the facade of the small porch, leading to the main entrance, seen in the background. Each window has two aracdes with a central pillar.

Sélestat was probably not more than a village, when Charlemagne stayed here over Christmas 775. Strange enough, that nowadays Sélestat claims to be the place of origin of the christmas-tree, based on an invoice from 1521. All this has nothing to do with Sainte Foy seen here. 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 grandson Frederick I Barbarossa funded the construction of the new church, that was the center of a benedictine monastery, affiliated to the abbey St. Foy in Conques. The western facade (westwork), seen here, was (is?) disputed. The whole building had undergone a major reconstruction, as it was changed a lot in the 17th century. It got rebuilt to the romanesque layout within the 19th century. The two high towers dominating the facade today may in medieval times not have existed in this way. Well, I had been here just 3 months before, but now, I had new literature and the light had changed. So I took many photos again. Here is the link to the older photo: www.flickr.com/photos/martin-m-miles/4930539570/

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. The capital of the pillar in the right window depicts a group of four hunters (each on one side), holding four chimares (birds with lion heads), placed on each corner of the capital.

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 cavings) remained. Hildegard´s grandson Frederick I Barbarossa funded the construction of the new church, that was the center of a benedictine monastry, depending from the abbey St. Foy in Conques. Here the three apses with lots of carvings and the crossing tower, 42m high.