The Basilica of Our Lady of Thierenbach is a

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

and

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

located in

Jungholtz Jungholtz (; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The Basilica of Our Lady of Thierenbach, formerly the church of Thierenbach Priory, a dissolved Cluniac monastery, is located here. See also * Commu ...

, in the Alasace region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

The priory was built on the order of the

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

Cluny Abbey Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches ...

in the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

order, with construction occurring around 1130. Monks from Cluny Abbey occupied the priory until the 17th century. The current structure was designed by

Peter Thumb Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and was built between 1719 and 1723 after the original 12th-century structure was destroyed during the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...

. The basilica was later abandoned during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. The current church was built in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style, with a number of typical Baroque features, such as

ex-voto An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity; the term is usually restricted to Christian examples. It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ''ex voto suscepto'', "from the vow made") or in gratitude o ...

images along the walls, and an elaborate

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

. The most recent building works, taking place in 1932, saw the erection of a Baroque bell tower, topped with a bulbous dome. Today, the basilica draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims a year, and is a significant site of pilgrimage in the Alsace region.

History

The origins of the priory date back to 730, when a number of Benedictine monks started a mission to convert the population of Alsace. Numerous churches were built by them in the 8th century in Alsace. The Cluniac mission built on the foundations of the Benedictine missions after the miraculous cure of a supposedly incurable disease inflicted upon a young man from Soultz. According to legend, he pledged to build a shrine to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

if he was cured. Attracted by these stories, a Cluniac mission was built in the town. The religious community never exceeded more than ten monks, and they were subservient to the mother monastery at Cluny. The priory existed for several centuries but was extensively attacked and damaged during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and in the Thirty Years War. The priory interior was heavily damaged in 1276 in a fire, and it was sacked by peasants in 1525. The archives of the early monastery and the church itself were extensively damaged deliberately during the Thirty Years War, in 1640. Thierenbach NotreDame58

During the

, the priory was disbanded, but the church survived, despite many churches in the area being destroyed. The monks refused to sign the Constitution of the Clergy, but the pilgrimage was restored with the priory in 1801 as part of Napoleon Bonaparte's Concordat of 1801. The surrounding region was a frontline during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and was subject to artillery bombing, particularly at Old Armand and Sudel. Despite the proximity to the German-French border during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the church was left relatively undamaged. Numerous side-chapels and other devotional centres were added, including a chapel dedicated to the

Good Shepherd The Good Shepherd ( el, ποιμὴν ὁ καλός, ''poimḗn ho kalós'') is an image used in the pericope of , in which Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23 ...

, which serves as the reliquary of the church, holding relics pertaining to many saints, including St Francis Xavier. The priory was restored and is a centre of pilgrimage in the area in the current day. Recent building works include the building of a bell tower in 1932. The church is also a centre of tourism, due to the history of the priory, and the ornate Baroque interiors and approximately 850 ex-voto images.

The Church Grounds

The church grounds contain a number of significant features. There is a calvary station, with a nearby fountain and well, as well as the remains of a chapel dedicated to

St Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

, the Mother of Mary. The chapel of St Anne was built to replace the hermitage which had long stood on the site. The remains are now part of an inn, used to house the many thousands of pilgrims who regularly visit the basilica on a pilgrimage of devotion to Our Lady of Thierenbach.

Pilgrimages

The site holds a number of significant pilgrimages each year. These include: * The pilgrimage of 'travelers' in May * The Polish pilgrimage in June * The pilgrimage of the sick and injured in June * The pilgrimage of the Eastern Ukrainians in September * The pilgrimage of the National Union of Combatants (NCU) in October

References

{{coord, 47.8817, 7.1892, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Benedictine monasteries in France Minor basilicas Roman Catholic churches completed in 1723 Baroque church buildings in France 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France Churches in Haut-Rhin