Église Saint-Maurice (Church of

Saint Maurice Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, Maurits, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptians, Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Roman Empire, Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favourite and most widely venerated saints of tha ...

) is the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of the small town of Soultz, in the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...

department of France. The church is noteworthy for its refined and light (''épuré et léger'') Gothic design, and for the works of art it contains, including a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

and a 1750 Silbermann

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

. It has been classified as a ''

monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' by the

French Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the ministry (government department), ministry of the Government of France in charge of List of museums in France, national museums and the . Its goal is to maintain the French identity through the promotion and pro ...

since 1920.

History

The work on the church was begun in 1270, at the site of a previous Romanesque church from the 11th century, of which some remains have been uncovered by 1990s archaeologists. The

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

was finished before 1310 and the nave around 1340, but the overall construction was only completed in 1489 with the addition of a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

at the western end, because the church had been found too small for the town's population at that time. The top of the spire was added in 1611.

Description

The height of the crossing tower is , including the sun-shaped

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

on top of the cross. The tower features a

clock face A clock face is the part of an analog clock (or watch) that displays time through the use of a flat dial (measurement), dial with reference marks, and revolving pointers turning on concentric shafts at the center, called hands. In its most basi ...

with hands, a painted

sundial A sundial is a horology, horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the position of the Sun, apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the ...

(1755), and a scratch dial. Inside, the height of the vaults at the transept is . The church's

floor plan In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure. Dimensio ...

is in the shape of a Latin cross, with a central

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and two aisles. The church lost much of its original furniture during the French Revolution. Today, it contains 14th- and 15th-century frescos (heavily restored in the 1970s and 1980s); an elaborate wooden pulpit from around 1616; a well preserved 1750 pipe organ by Johann Andreas Silbermann in a lavish case; and many

ledger stone A ledger stone or ledgerstone is an inscribed stone slab usually laid into the floor of a church to commemorate or mark the place of the burial of an important deceased person. The term "ledger" derives from the Middle English words ''lygger'', '' ...

s, altars, statues, bosses, and other sculptures. Most noteworthy among these are a wooden

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

from around 1480–1490, depicting

Saint George and the Dragon In a legend, Saint Georgea soldier venerated in Christianity—defeats a dragon. The story goes that the dragon originally extorted tribute from villagers. When they ran out of livestock and trinkets for the dragon, they started giving up a huma ...

, a wooden statue from around 1500 of the

Madonna and Child In Christian art, a Madonna () is a religious depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a singular form or sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word ...

, and an 1855 oil on canvas painting of the

Entombment of Christ The burial of Jesus refers to the entombment of the body of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus after his crucifixion before the erev Shabbat, eve of the sabbath. This event is described in the New Testament. According to the Gospels, canonical gospel ...

that was presented to the church by

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

in 1864. On the outside, the southern portal has retained its tympanum from around 1320, representing Saint Maurice on horseback and the

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having fo ...

. This sculpture may be a work of Thann masters from nearby.

Gallery

Soultz StMaurice49.JPG, Lateral view Soultz StMaurice51.JPG, 14th-century tympanum: Saint Maurice on horseback, and the Adoration of the Magi 2014-09-07 15-10-50 eglise-PA00085681.jpg, The nave, looking west Soultz StMaurice17.JPG, The pipe organ 2014-09-07 14-51-37 eglise-PA00085681.jpg, The nave, looking east Soultz StMaurice39.JPG, 15th-century Gothic relief: Saint George and the Dragon Soultz StMaurice33.JPG, Ca. 1500 Gothic statue: Madonna and Child Soultz StMaurice43.JPG, 1855 painting, presented by Napoleon III in 1864: Entombment of Christ

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soultz Churches in Haut-Rhin Monuments historiques of Haut-Rhin Buildings and structures completed in 1489 Gothic architecture in France Roman Catholic churches in France