Collégiale Saint-Thiébaut de Thann

Thann

Thann may be the only town in Alsace born of a pilgrim's staff. Tradition has it that in 1161 the servant of Theobald — Ubald, bishop of Gubbio in Italy, who had died the previous year — was carrying in his staff a relic of his master. Stopping for the night at the edge of the forest, where the valley of the Thur opens out, he tried to set off again in the morning: impossible, for the staff clung to the fir tree against which he had leant it, as though rooted there. At that very moment, three lights blazed above three fir trees in the forest. From his castle of Engelbourg, the Count of Ferrette saw the flames and vowed to raise a chapel on the spot: the staff came free, the chapel was built, and around it grew a town of pilgrimage. From this founding wonder came one of the finest Gothic churches of the Upper Rhine: the collegiate church of Saint-Thiébaut, raised from the late 13th to the 15th century, in which the three ages of Gothic can be read, and listed as a monument historique (historic monument) as early as 1841. Its 78-metre bell tower, completed by the master builder Remy Faesch, is held to be the most beautiful in Alsace. And every 30 June the town replays its legend: at the Burning of the Three Fir Trees, half religious, half secular, three fir trees prepared by the commune go up in flames on the place Joffre before thousands of spectators, echoing the three lights of 1161 — and in fellowship with Gubbio, its twin town since 1958, which honours the same saint.

Getting there : Town centre of Thann; free admission during the collegiate church's opening hours; the bell tower (273 steps) can be climbed on certain visits. Burning of the Three Fir Trees every 30 June, place Joffre. TER railway station in Thann.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound