The Basilica of Our Lady of Thierenbach is a Cluniac priory and minor basilica located in Jungholtz. The priory was built on the order of the Abbot of Cluny Abbey in the Benedictine order, with construction occurring around 1130. Monks from Cluny Abbey occupied the priory until the 17th century. The current structure was designed by Peter Thumb and was built between 1719 and 1723 after the original 12th-century structure was destroyed during the Thirty Years War. The basilica was later abandoned during the French Revolution.
The current church was built in the Baroque style, with a number of typical Baroque features, such as ex-voto images along the walls, and an elaborate altarpiece. The most recent building works, taking place in 1932, saw the erection of a Baroque bell tower, topped with a bulbous dome. Today, the basilica draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims a year, and is a significant site of pilgrimage in the Alsace region.
References:The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople (today Istanbul) since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built. They were also the largest and strongest fortification in both the ancient and medieval world.
Initially built by Constantine the Great, the walls surrounded the new city on all sides, protecting it against attack from both sea and land. As the city grew, the famous double line of the Theodosian Walls was built in the 5th century. Although the other sections of the walls were less elaborate, they were, when well-manned, almost impregnable for any medieval besieger.