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The Mont Sainte-Odile
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A favored summit throughout 6000 years of history, the Mont Sainte-Odile is a site of beauty and light. A place of well-known pilgrimages and intense meditation, Mont Sainte-Odile is the most visited place in Alsace, after Haut-Koenigsbourg... It is, therefore, more difficult today than years before to find quiet and solitude favorable for spiritual reflection in this sacred enclosure. Set 761m (2496ft) high up in the mountains, Mont Sainte-Odile is a very original convent with its own hotel, restaurants, snack bars, souvenir shops, spring and view... A wonderful view over the Plain of Alsace, a view that goes all the way to the ridge of the Black Forest on the other side of the Rhine River, in Germany. It is also the starting point for many magnificant hikes among stones, springs, trees and effects of light found in the Vosges Mountains.
Starting in 1930, Mont Sainte-Odile was restored by the architect, R. Danis, who was also in charge of the restoration of Mont Saint Michel. The actual abbey no longer has many of the vestiges of the original convent. However, the plans of the convent allow you to better understand how the land imposed certain constraints during various phases of the abbey's construction. The large courtyard is impressive.
Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the 17th century church has had certain parts of its Romanesque edifice preserved. In the cloister, the actual tea salon is located on the premises of the former refectory. In the "chapelle de la Croix", or the Cross Chapel, dating back to the 12th century, you will find numerous tombs (according to experts, dating back to the 9th and 11th century), including those of Adalric and Bereswinde, Saint Odile's parents. The Sainte-Odile Chapel deserves all our attention since it holds the stone coffin of the founding abbey mother. The relics of Saint Odile have been authentified.
The Pagan Wall
After Mont Sainte-Odile and after climbing the stairway, you will come upon the path that goes along the Pagan Wall, "le mur païen". This particularly impressive construction dates very likely back to the Celtic Age. With a thickness of 1.70m (5,5ft) and 3m (10ft) high in the tallest parts, the Pagan Wall is composed of enormous blocks and continues along for about 10 kilometers (6,2mi). To walk completely along the wall would take a couple of hours. On the other hand, the walk would allow you to discover traces of ancient cults from the time period of the druids. For example, dolmens as well as ruins of the Dreistein and Hagelschloss medieval castles.
The Legend of Mont Sainte-Odile
Numerous legends exist about the patron saint of Alsace, Saint Odile. We will tell you the most widely known story today. Little Odile, daughter of the Duke Adalric, is born blind. Furious for not having a son and angered by his daughter's disability, Odile's father disowns her. Her mother, Bererswinde, entrusts the baby to an abbey mother whom she knows. When the child is baptized, she miraculously gains her eyesight. She grows up among the nuns and becomes a pious and educated young woman. One day, Odile wants to see her father again, and her brother, Hugo, thinks this meeting would be a good idea. The furious Duke Adalric kills his son in a fit of anger. Afterwards, he regrets his actions and decides to welcome back his daughter not without commiting another error. Adalric tries to force her to marry, whereas she was dreaming of offering her life to God. Remorseful again in 680, the repentant Adalric offers to his daughter the "Château de Hohenbourg" and other possessions so that she can fulfill her vocation. Odile founds the first Alsatian convent for women where she lives a saintly life all while working wonders tied to the disability with which she was born. Saint Odile dies at the abbey in 720.
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