Neuwiller-lès-Saverne
Ancienne collégiale Saint-Adelphe
Presentation
The church was built between 1190 and 1225 to house the relics of Saint Adelphe, the tenth bishop of Metz, who had attracted large numbers of pilgrims since they were transferred to Neuwiller in 836. This is an interesting landmark between late Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The two turrets at the front of the church add great originality to the Romanesque pink sandstone facade. Inside, the large arches rest on square pillars with canted corners and the double arches on engaged half-columns ending in whistles. The choir of the church has disappeared. Inside, on either side of the pulpit, interesting Romanesque flat sculptures depict the Tree of Life emerging from its egg and an animal’s head devouring a plant.
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The former collegiate church of Saint Adelphe was built by the Benedictines outside the walls of their neighbouring monastery to serve as a parish church, house a chapter of canons and house the relics of Saint Adelphe and Saint Sabine. Since 1563, the building has been used for Protestant worship.
Work on Saint-Adelphe, which began around 1190, was completed around 1230, at a time when Gothic architecture was becoming widespread in Alsace.
Saint-Adelphe has a basilica layout with a wide transept and a tower at the crossing. The lost Romanesque choir probably consisted of a central apse adjoined by two apsidioles in the extension of three bays corresponding to the central nave and the aisles. In addition, two apsidioles were attached to the east facades of the transept’s crossbeams. The Romanesque choir was replaced in the late 13th or 14th century by a large Gothic choir, which was demolished in 1824.
On the façade, a high portal with colonnettes gives access to the building. It is framed by two round, stretched and engaged towers, curiously arranged in an asymmetrical fashion. The top floor of the towers dates from the 19th century. Above the portal, a characteristic Gothic feature, is a poly-lobed rose modelled on the one in the north transept of Strasbourg cathedral.