Legend creation Niedermunster Mont Sainte-Odile Camel

Niedermunster Abbey, situated at the foot of Mount Saint Odile at an altitude of 511 metres, was founded around 700 A.D. to cater for the overflow of

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

s to the Saint Odile Abbey, formerly known as the Hohenbourg. The abbey was founded by Saint

Odile of Alsace Odile of Alsace, also known as Odilia and Ottilia, born - at Mont Sainte-Odile), is a saint venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. She is a patroness saint of good eyesight and of the region of Alsace. Saint ...

, who was also the first Abbess. When Saint Odile died, in Niedermunster Abbey in 720, her niece Gundelina took over as abbess. Until the end of the 12th century, the two abbeys formed a single institution, but from the beginning of the 13th century, they began to operate as separate establishments. In 1542 the abbey came under the authority of the Great Chapter of

Strasbourg Cathedral Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg (, or ''Cathédrale de Strasbourg'', ), also known as Strasbourg Minster (church), Minster (), is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. Although considerable parts of ...

. The Abbey buildings of which the ruins are still visible today were built between 1150 and 1180 AD. The Abbey was seriously damaged during the Peasants' War in 1525 and again by two fires, in 1542 and 1572. The nuns abandoned the abbey in 1545 and it was never reoccupied. The site was then used, up until the 19th century, as a quarry for other buildings, including the adjacent farm. A hospital was built at the site, in addition to the abbey. For several centuries the abbey was known for its relics, the head and arm of Saint Lazarus of Marseille. When the abbey was burnt down these were transferred to Andlau, eventually disappearing during the French Revolution.

The Camel, the Cross and the Foreskin

Legend has it that, in 799 the future

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

received a large number of relics from Fortunatus the patriarch of Jerusalem, including a fragment of the Holy Cross and the

Holy Foreskin The Holy Prepuce, or Holy Foreskin (Latin or ), is one of several relics attributed to Jesus, consisting of the foreskin removed during the circumcision of Jesus. At various points in history, a number of churches in Europe have claimed to poss ...

. This he later offered to Hugo of Tours who, feeling that he was not worthy to receive such a gift, had the gold cross which contained it strapped to a camel and sent it off to roam where it would, accompanied by five knights. The camel finally stopped at Niedermunster, there the knights founded the adjacent St James' hermitage. A similar Charlemagne legend relates that a fragment of the cross was given to

William of Gellone William of Gellone ( 755 – 28 May 812 or 814), the medieval William of Orange, was the second Duke of Toulouse from 790 until 811. In 804, he founded the abbey of Gellone. He was canonized a saint in 1066 by Pope Alexander II.

and kept in the monastery of

Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert ( or ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. Situated where the Gellone rive ...

. There are two paintings of this event still in Alsace, one in

Molsheim Molsheim (; ) is a Communes of France, commune and a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture in the Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.Richard the Lion Heart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...

in 1194, although the earliest reference to this visit can only be traced back to 1751. The Abbey was also famous for its huge cross, one of the best known artworks of Carolingian France, reputedly part of the true cross. In the 16th century it was transferred to the Jesuits at Molsheim, only to disappear during the Revolution, when it was melted down in the Strasbourg Mint. The well in the centre of the abbey is still said to cure eye diseases.

References

External links

Photos and paintings of Niedermunster in Wikimedia

* ttp://www.lieux-insolites.fr/basrhin/niedermunster/niedermunster.htm Niedermunster, l'autre abbaye de Ste Odile (Niedermunster, the other abbey of Saint Odile)
Niedermunster article in Encyclopedia.com
{{coord, 48, 26, 06, N, 7, 24, 30, E, region:FR_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Christian monasteries in Bas-Rhin Christian monasteries established in the 8th century Former Christian monasteries in France Benedictine nunneries in France Ruined abbeys and monasteries