Niedermunster Abbey, Alsace

Niedermünster (French: Niedermunster ) is a former Benedictine monastery and now a historic site at the top end of a secluded valley near the Vosges French town of Saint -Nabor in the department of Bas- Rhin (Alsace ).

History

The monastery was founded by Saint Odilia in the years 700-710 as a religious hospital at the foot of Mont Sainte-Odile. A few years later this hospice under the direction of the holy Gundelinde, a niece of Odilia, expanded to the monastery. It was dependent on the foundation to the year 1017 by the sister abbey High Castle ( Mont Sainte-Odile ). In 1017 independence was guaranteed by the free choice of the abbess and a bailiff. The importance of the Abbey declined in the 14th century. The church as well as the Abbey Building burned 1542 this did not rebuilt.

Description

Today, only the ruins of the monastery church were preserved, but still give a good idea of the once major asset. The church was built in 1160-1180. She was a three-aisled basilica with a transept groined vault and a rectangular choir and crypt. The West ended with an articulated by pilasters and arched friezes twin-tower facade with porch and loft. The nave was in a bound system running (per Hauptschiffsjoch two Seitenschiffsjoche ), corresponding to cross piers alternated with columns from. Stylistically and qualitatively there is a close relationship to the nearby church in Rosheim.

Chapel Saint -Nicolas

A few hundred meters down the valley found the rebuilt in the 19th century Romanesque chapel of Saint- Nicolas with flachgedecktem hall and choir tower.