Hunawihr, in Alsace, is a classically beautiful small village, along the Wine Route. Its population of just over 600 live in a variety of houses, ranging from 20th-century back to 13th and 14th. At the top of the hillside village, there’s a pleasant stone church, whose history belies the village’s peaceful scene.
The church is actually a fortress, a fortified church, meant not only to provide for spiritual needs but to withstand attacks by armies contending back and forth across the rich valley that lies between the Rhine and the Vosges Mountains. In the picture below, you can see its walls; at the top, the gateway through them that leads into the church’s safe precinct and the church.
The diagram shows the extent of the walls, and the development of the church over the years from its 10th-century origins. The original vault remains, but the above-ground areas all changed over time.
Inside, the church is beautifully maintained and bright. Outside, its ancient cemetery, includes one of those ambiguous war memorials we found all over Alsace. Because so many Alsatians served on different sides of different armies in different wars, ancient and modern, the inscription is just to “Our Victims of Wars.”
Flowers along the cemetery wall
As with most villages in the area, wine is a major business; for Hunawihr, there’s much less tourism than in some nearby, but larger villages such as Riquewihr. The surrounding lands and hills are covered in grapevines.
But a closer and closer look reveals what’s only hinted in the picture just above: the church is not the only fortification in the area. Directly opposite the village, grouped along the mountain, are the remains of three castles, once guarding the lands along the Rhine.
Church on hill: Gianmaria Valente/Wikimedia
