The Church of Saint Faith of Sélestat (, ) is a major
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...
landmark in
Sélestat
Sélestat (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Schlettstàdt''; German: ''Schlettstadt'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Grand Est region of France. An administrative division (Subprefectures in France, sous-préfecture) of the Bas-Rhin Depa ...
along the
Route Romane d'Alsace
The Route Romane d'Alsace (Romanesque Road of Alsace) is a tourist itinerary designed by the Association Voix et Route Romane to link both the well-known and the more secret examples of Romanesque architecture of Alsace, in an itinerary of 19 st ...
in the East of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. The church having been built over a very short time span (only ten years, from 1170 to 1180), it appears strikingly homogenous in style and proportions, however some parts have been completed and others modified in a
Romanesque Revival style
Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a Architectural style, style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Reviv ...
by the architect Charles Winckler (sometimes spelled Winkler) between 1889 and 1893. During that restoration campaign, a
crypt
A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...
dating back to around 1085 was discovered and made accessible as well.
[Gilbert Poinsot: ''Terre Romane d'Alsace'', I.D. l′Edition, Strasbourg, Mai 2000, ] Like many major buildings in
Alsace
Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...
the church is made of pink
Vosges mountains
The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian (linguistics), Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its France–Germany border, border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the bor ...
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
.
History
, the wife of
Friedrich von Büren, one of the ancestors of the
House of Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...
, founded a first sanctuary dedicated to Saint Faith at this place around 1085, of which the crypt is today the only part remaining. In 1094, the centre of the adoration of Saint Faith was moved to
Conques
Conques (; Languedocien: ''Concas'') is a former commune in the Aveyron department in Southern France, in the Occitania region. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Conques-en-Rouergue.
Geography
The village is located at t ...
, where a grander sanctuary and pilgrimage site was being built as the
Abbey Church of Saint Foy
The Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy in Conques, France, was a popular stop for pilgrims traveling the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela, in what is now Spain. The main draw for medieval pilgrims at Conques were the remains of Sainte-Foy, a ...
.
The church was rebuilt in the 12th century as the centre of a
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
. In 1615, it became a
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
college (see also
Jesuit Church, Molsheim
The former Jesuit Church (''Église des Jésuites'') is the parish church '' Sainte-Trinité-et- Saint-Georges'' ( Alsatian: ''Sànkt-Georg- und Dreifàltigkeitskirich'') which is the main Roman Catholic sanctuary of Molsheim, France, and the pr ...
), which it remained until 1767. The church, which was then menaced of destruction by the town council, was saved by the intervention of the
Bishop of Strasbourg
Archbishops
*Charles Amarin Brand (16 July 1984 – 23 October 1997) (with rank of archbishop from 1988)
*Joseph Doré (23 October 1997 – 25 August 2006)
*Jean-Pierre Grallet (21 April 2007 – 18 February 2017)
*Luc Ravel (18 February 2017 ...
,
Louis Constantin de Rohan The Jesuits have left their mark on the church's furniture, most notably the
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 ...
, an important example of local
Baroque art
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in ...
. After the restoration of 1889–1893, the church had to be repaired again in the 1940s, having been damaged during the
Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine
The Siegfried Line campaign was a phase in the Western Front (World War II)#1944–1945: The Second Front, Western European campaign of World War II, which involved engagments near the German defensive Siegfried Line.
This campaign spanned from ...
in the last weeks of 1944.
Among the churches many features, the ornate
capitals
Capital and its variations may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital
** List of national capitals
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter
Econom ...
crowning the columns inside and pillars of the windows outside belong to the finest. Saint Faith's two
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 ...
s (the tribune organ of 1892 and the
choir
A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
organ of 1880) have been repaired several times since their installation, they do however still show beautifully crafted cases.
Dimensions
Some of the building's dimensions are the following:
[Robert Will: ''Alsace romane'', Zodiaque Éditions, collection "La nuit des temps" (nr. 22), 1965 ]
*Outside length:
*Height of crossing tower:
*Width of façade:
*Inside length:
*Inside height of central nave:
*Inside height of lateral naves:
*Inside height of crossing:
*Inside height of apse:
*Width of central nave:
*Width of lateral naves:
Gallery
File:Sélestat - église Ste Foy - 1902.jpg, The church in 1902
File:Eglise Sainte-Foy Selestat Vierungsturm.jpg, The crossing tower
File:Sélestat SteFoy 02.JPG, The church's porch
File:Sélestat SteFoy 04.JPG, Tympanum of the main portal
File:Sélestat SteFoy 13.JPG, Inside, looking west
File:Sélestat SteFoy 09.JPG, The baroque pulpit
See also
*
St. George's Church, Sélestat
*
List of Jesuit sites
This list includes past and present buildings, facilities and institutions associated with the Society of Jesus. In each country, sites are listed in chronological order of start of Jesuit association.
Nearly all these sites have be ...
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selestat Faiths Church, Selestat
Buildings and structures completed in 1180
12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France
Faiths
Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, includ ...
Churches in Bas-Rhin
Monuments historiques of Bas-Rhin
Romanesque architecture in France
Jesuit churches in France