Sights of the Southern Rhine
Strasbourg
An attractive old town, where Germany meets France
Entry to the medieval city was guarded by four massive towers connected by bridges over the River Ill. The towers were covered by wooden canopies to protect the soldiers. Although these were removed in the C18th, the bridge is still known as the Ponts Couverts, or Covered Bridge.
To the west of them is the Vauban Dam. This was built in 1686 by the military engineer Vauban, who considered the city defences to be inadequate. Building a dam across the river made it possible to flood the land to the south of the city, so making it impassable to enemy attack. An enclosed corridor links the two banks of the river. An extra level was added to the structure in 1865 and is now a panoramic terrace, with good views of Petite France.
The core of the city is the World Heritage site of Grand Ile, bordered by the River Ill and the Canal du Faux-Rempart. It is linked to the rest of the city by twenty one bridges and footbridges.
To the west is Petite France, a network of canals and bridges which was originally the tannery district. The houses are recognised by their open galleries below the roof which were used for drying the skins.
Leading from the canals is a network of narrow streets lined with C18th town houses and other public buildings.
The very ornate west front has three doorways decorated with hundreds of statues. The stained glass windows contain brightly coloured medieval glass. The astronomical clock is one of the largest in the world and dates from 1571 although the mechanism had to be replaced in the C19th.
Opposite the Cathedral is the C18th Palais Rohan built for Cardinal Armand-Gaston de Rohan-Soubise, Prince-Bishop of Strasbourg and designed to upstage the great Parisian mansions. It now houses three museums, archaeology, decorative and fine arts.
We only had three hours in Strasbourg and hardly scratched the surface. As well as Palais Rohan, there is the museum in Maison de l’Oeuvre Notre Dame with Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance sculpture, including many originals from the cathedral as well as C15th paintings and stained glass. The Alsatian Museum is the folk museum set in C16 & C17th buildings and covers folk lore and rural life. The History Museum in an old slaughterhouse covers the history of Strasbourg from its beginnings as a Roman military camp.
There are the Botanic Gardens and also the Jardin des Deux Rives along the banks of the Rhine and linked to the German town of Kehl by a new footbridge.