#St Martin's Church Travel Recommendations for 2024 (Updated in Jun)
Churches and Cathedrals
Address:
18 Pl. de la Cathédrale, 68000 Colmar, France
Opening times:
Opens at 8:15-17:45Open
Recommended sightseeing time:
1-2 hours
Phone:
+33-3-89412720
The most imposing Gothic church in Alsace
Erected from 1235 on the site of a previous building, this collegiate church is the most imposing
Gothic church in Middle Alsace. The south facade of the transept, with the Saint Nicolas portal, is the finest part. The strange roofing of the tower replaces a spire which collapsed following a fire in 1572. As the seat of the constitutional bishopric of the Haut-Rhin district during the French revolution, Saint Martin had cathedral status during that period.
The church’s silhouette, with its single bell tower, is particularly recognisable from neighbouring districts. It’s extremely beautiful inside too. Look carefully at the amazing stained glass panels and the 2 large organs at the marvelous altar here.
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A French fairy tale town, it's like stepping into Howl's Moving Castle
✨A French fairy tale town, it's like stepping into Howl's Moving Castle✨
🪄When you see the town in this picture, do you feel a sense of déjà vu? If you are familiar with Hayao Miyazaki's work 'Howl's Moving Castle', then this scene will not be unfamiliar to you😉. Remember when Sophie was walking alone on the path, being teased by two soldiers, and Howl descended from the sky like a hero🕺, with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a cloak, appearing beside Sophie. He took Sophie dancing in the air above the town, lightly stepping over the rooftops, overlooking the entire town, everything was dreamily beautiful💕.
👧The most impressive to me was the scene where they danced in the air🎈, those rows of pointed timber-framed houses, scattered in an orderly fashion, looking down from above, both romantic and spectacular🎆. And this scene is not a figment of Grandpa Miyazaki's imagination, its prototype is the town of Colmar on the Alsace Wine Route in France! Compare the pictures, isn't it almost identical😲! Those timber-framed houses are just like two peas in a pod! Here, it seems that you can see Howl carrying Sophie flying over the rooftops🕊️!
🏡Over the past millennium, the Alsace region has changed hands between France and Germany several times, its history is an epic of German-French contradictions and integration📚. Speaking of Alsace, does it feel familiar to you🤔? Let's read the text below together and see if it can evoke fragments of your memory📃:
'After the grammar lesson, we started the handwriting class📝. That day, Mr. Hamel gave us new copybooks, all with beautiful round script: 'France' 'Alsace' 'France' 'Alsace'. These copybooks hung on the iron rods of our desks, like many small national flags fluttering in the classroom🚩. Everyone was so focused, the classroom was unbelievably quiet🎵!'
'The Last Lesson' cast a melancholic and solemn hue over Alsace😢. But in fact, before the 17th century, the Alsace region belonged to the Holy Roman Empire (the predecessor of Germany), and people mainly spoke German📄. After the famous Thirty Years' War in Europe, Alsace came under French rule. And in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, France was defeated, and Alsace belonged to Prussia, until Germany was defeated in World War II, Alsace returned to the arms of France💪, and formed the current border between the two countries along the Rhine River🗺️.
📖If cities can also be mixed-race, then Colmar is undoubtedly a beautiful town with German-French mixed blood🌸. Carefully calculated, this place belonged to Germany for a longer time than it belonged to France. This also explains why Colmar's architectural style is full of Germanic charm🏰, those timber-framed houses and the magnificent Gothic churches with pointed spires all bear strong Germanic marks🎨, as well as many street names with German suffixes and the dialect mixed with German and French, all have a reasonable explanation🤝.
✨Colmar also has many attractions worth visiting🎡, such as the Little Venice area, where the waterways crisscross, and the colorful timber-framed houses are reflected in the water, picturesque🖼️; there is also the Unterlinden Museum, which displays the rich history and culture of the Alsace region📜; and the Saint Martin Church, whose towering spires and exquisite carvings are awe-inspiring👏. Come to Colmar and experience the unique charm of this fairy tale town💖!