The Route Romane d’Alsace
Created in 1999 on the initiative of the regional council and tourist authority, the Route Romane d’Alsace presents a little-known feature of the architectural heritage of Alsace : Romanesque buildings. The route runs across the plains, wine-growing areas and hills of the region to 120 churches, abbeys and fortresses ranging from the most prestigious to the most secret. There are 19 principal stages between Wissembourg and Feldbach.
Among the Romanesque sites in Alsace is the church of Saints-Pierre-et-Paul at Wissembourg. The actual church is essentially from the 13th and 14th centuries, but the chapel along the eastern wing of the cloister and the tower are Romanesque. The abbey church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste at Saint-Jean-Saverne dates from 1150-1160 and was founded by the Abbaye de Saint-Georges in the Black Forest. The building comprises 3 naves with 10 bays and no transept ending in 3 semi-circular apses.
Neuwiller-lès-Saverne has two Romanesque buildings whose histories are inextricably linked : the abbey church of St-Pierre-et-Paul and the church of Saint-Adelphus. In 846, a little more than a century after the Benedictine abbey was founded here, the relics of Saint Adelphus were transferred to the abbey church. Following a series of miracles, it became so popular with pilgrims that a second church was built nearby to serve as a shrine, so that the monks could remain undisturbed.
Route Romane d’Alsace also features castles. The first stone-built castles in Alsace appeared at the end of the 10th century.
Guirbaden, near the village of Mollkirch, was built by Hugues III of Eguisheim in the 11th century to protect the Abbey of Aldorf.
Herrenstein (mentioned in 1055) castle was built in the early 11th century on a site which had probably been fortified since the 9th century. It was built by the Counts of Eguisheim-Dabo, advocates of the Abbey of Neuwiller, to protect the abbey.
The ‘Trois Châteaux’ of Eguisheim. The 3 keeps of Dagsbourg, Wahlenbourg and Weckmund were built on a site 140m long and 5,000m² at 591m altitude. Within the communal walls of the Trois Châteaux there was once a chapel dedicated to Saint Pancras which had been consecrated by Pope Leo IX.
Honack (mentioned in 1079) was built in the 12th century by the Counts of Eguisheim on the ruins of a Roman look-out post dating from the 3rd century.
Frankenbourg was first officially mentioned in 1125. It was built by Siegbert III of Sarrebruck, ally of the Hohenstaufen. In 1153, Siegbert was made Seigneur de Frankenbourg by Frederick Barbarossa.
Our selection of accommodations
Lodging
Gite vignoble de Cleebourg
in CLEEBOURG - Bas-Rhin
Guest house
A l'Ombre du Bouleau
in NIEDERMODERN - Bas-Rhin
Our new accommodations
Guest house
La table et le nid
in Griesheim-près-Molsheim - Bas-Rhin
