Dominican Church
On Gingerguide's self-guided Colmar audio tour, Dominican Church is a stop worth about ~30 min. Stand in front of it, press play for a short narrated story, and put any follow-up question to the built-in AI guide.
- Type religious
- Suggested visit ~30 min
- Colmar Colmar guide
About Dominican Church
A stark Gothic preaching hall whose choir shelters Martin Schongauer's 1473 Madonna of the Rose Bower, a luminous panel stolen from Colmar in 1972 and recovered a year later.
The former Dominican Church is a large Gothic building raised by a preaching order that settled in Colmar around 1260. Its interior is deliberately austere: slender columns climb to the vaults, a five-bay choir ends in a five-sided apse, and early-fourteenth-century stained glass tells scenes from the life of Christ. After the Revolution the church was used as an artillery and grain store, returning to worship only in 1898; it has been a protected monument since 1948.
Its greatest treasure is Martin Schongauer's Madonna of the Rose Bower, signed and dated 1473. The oil panel shows Mary and the Christ Child in an enclosed garden of roses and finches. Painted as an altarpiece for Saint Martin's, it was stolen in 1972, recovered in 1973, and installed in the choir here, where it has remained. The adjoining former convent has housed the municipal library since 1951.
Did you know? Schongauer's Madonna of the Rose Bower was cut down on every side at some unknown date, shrinking from roughly 250 centimetres tall to about 200; its original altarpiece frame is long lost.
How much time do you need at Dominican Church?
Around ~30 min works well for Dominican Church — time to look properly and listen to its story on the spot. Linger if you like; nothing on a self-guided walk is on a clock.
Should you stop at Dominican Church?
Yes — Dominican Church made the cut as one of 13 places the Gingerguide team researched and narrated across Colmar. The story tells you why it is worth the stop, and the AI guide fills in anything you still wonder.
Nearby stops in Colmar
Day 1 of the Colmar in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Dominican Church
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