2024

SAINT-FLORENT COLLEGE

Abbey monastery and convent
4.7/5
13 reviews
Open - Close to 18h00

This collegiate church with three naves (now the parish church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste) is one of the masterpieces of Alsatian Gothic art. The church was built from 1274 on the site of another building dating from the early 7th century. After Strasbourg Cathedral, it has the largest number of original medieval stained glass windows in Alsace. The large portal, which illustrates the life of Saint Florent, is remarkable and strongly inspired by the representations of the cathedral. The carved oak stalls, located on either side of the choir, date from the 17th and late 18th centuries and are of great finesse. The church also houses the funeral slab of the son of Erwin von Steinbach, the famous architect of Strasbourg Cathedral, who died on the site of the collegiate church in 1329. A famous annual pilgrimage to Saint Florent, whose relics are kept in a shrine visible in the nave on a Sunday in November; on this occasion a large market is held around the collegiate church. And if the weather permits, the relics are carried in procession through the streets of the village.

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