Eguisheim
In 1982, an independent tourist association created 'Les Beaux Villages de France' (The most beautiful villages in France), in order to promote small rural towns with a strong cultural heritage. The criteria for acceptance into this elite group is high, but there are currently over 150 member villages.
The towns that we visited in Alsace yesterday were stunning, and being so close together should, in my opinion, be given UNESCO world heritage status.
Turckheim
In each of these four towns we found narrow cobbled streets of beautifully preserved, colourful, half-timber, medieval houses, some with ornate stone oriel windows (a sort of 16th century bay window) or balconies.
Kayserberg
At Eguisham there are the ruins of three medieval castles. The town itself is made up of three concentric circles of streets along with a central square and château.
Turckheim has origins dating back to Roman times and has the remains of magnificent ramparts with three fortified gateways still standing. In the summer months, traditional nightwatchmen still make the rounds of Turckheim each evening, often followed like the Pied Piper by the village children.
Kayserberg, whose name means 'Emperor's mountain', is again a fortified town, surrounded by vineyards. At the end of the main street, along the edges of the river there are lots of brightly painted half-timber houses. The Weiss river is crossed by a lovely 16th century fortified stone bridge and the 13th century Church Sainte-Croix has a roman front facade and an impressive 16th century altarpiece by Jean Bongart.
Riquewihr is entered through its double fortifications. It is like a town from a fairytale, with its double ramparts, 13th century watchtower called The Dolder, Thieves Tower, Winegrower House, and hundreds of other pretty houses and shops, all lining old cobbled streets.
Riquewihr
we only visited four villages, and there are many more, but despite their commonalities: beautiful architecture, cobbled streets, stork's nesting high up on the chimney stacks, fountains, stunning flower displays and window boxes, and many wine merchants, each had its own unique character.
It is a miracle that these places, built 700 years ago, are preserved and unspoilt for us and future generations to enjoy, and maybe a lesson could be learned in other places, where ancient buildings are often neglected, forgotton and lost.
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