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Founded: 1270Category: Religious sites in France
Historical period: Late Capetians (France)
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Église Saint-Maurice (Church of Saint Maurice) is the medieval parish church of the small town of Soultz. The church is noteworthy for its refined and light Gothic design, and for the works of art it contains, including a Renaissance pulpit and a 1750 Silbermann pipe organ.
The work on the church was begun in 1270, at the site of a previous Romanesque church from the 11th century, of which some remains have been uncovered by 1990s archaeologists. The transept was finished before 1310 and the nave around 1340, but the overall construction was only completed in 1489 with the addition of a bay at the western end, because the church had been found too small for the town's population at that time. The top of the spire was added in 1611.
The height of the crossing tower is 66 metres, including the sun-shaped weather vane on top of the cross. The church's floor plan is in the shape of a Latin cross, with a central nave and two aisles.
The church lost much of its original furniture during the French Revolution. Today, it contains 14th- and 15th-century frescos and an elaborate wooden pulpit from around 1616.
On the outside, the southern portal has retained its tympanum from around 1320, representing Saint Maurice on horseback and the Adoration of the Magi.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.