The chapel created in 1291 by Cistercian monks assumed its present shape in 1440 when it was rebuilt as a St. Mary's brick church. The half-timber framed nave (oak beams with brick fillings) was constructed in the 16th and 17th centuries with the choir annex added in the 18th century. Later restoration works served to expose paintings from around 1470 on the walls and the triumphal arch. The oldest decorative features are the Gothic triumphal crucifix (around 1500) and the Gothic carved altar created in 1520 at Antwerp. This altar is considered one of the truly outstanding sacred works of art anywhere in Northern Germany and bears close stylistic resemblances to the Bordesholm Altar at Schleswig by Hans Brüggemann and Jan Bormann’s altar for the Güstrow parish church made in Brussels at roughly the same period. The altar was originally acquired by wealthy merchants from Stralsund for a local Church and found its way to its present location only in 1708. The pulpit was originally made for another church, too, probably again in Stralsund, and the and brass chandelier also comes from there.
References:Saint-Émilion is a picturesque medieval village renowned for its well-preserved architecture and vineyards. The town and surrounding vineyards was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, owing to its long, living history of wine-making, Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow streets.
An oppidum was built on the hill overlooking the present-day city in Gaulish times, before the regions was annexed by Augustus in 27 BC. The Romans planted vineyards in what was to become Saint-Émilion as early as the 2nd century. In the 4th century, the Latin poet Ausonius lauded the fruit of the bountiful vine.
Because the region was located on the route of the Camino de Santiago, many monasteries and churches were built during the Middle Ages, and in 1199, while under Plantagenet rule, the town was granted full rights.