Strasbourg, France

Strasbourg, France

This city isn’t just a few hundred years old… It is more like 2 million years old! Strasbourg was an old Roman camp during 12 B.C. and the camp grew and morphed into the city we know today. In Strasbourg the first French and German allegiance document was forged in 842 and in the 13^th century the walls that surrounded the city till WWII were built. Many of the buildings in Strasbourg date to the 1500’s and 1600’s and usually are covered in the medieval fashion of wood timber. The old buildings also have very small windows at the top of the houses that are made just big enough to fit a gun through during times of war.

Strasbourg’s famous landmark is the Cathedral started being built in 1277 with each century adding its own take to the architecture but mainly embraces the gothic nature of the medieval times. Inside the Cathedral is a famous astronomical clock that was designed in 1570 by a mathematician and it worked on its own till 1780 until it had to be repaired. This clock has a figure of death and every 15 minutes it rotates so that a child, man, old man, and then nothing walk in front of Death. Every day at 12: 30 the clock chimes and all 12 Apostles walk in front of the figure of Jesus.

Everywhere you look in Strasbourg is picturesque from the old houses in Petite France to the huge palaces around the cathedral! The town truly shows both the German and French influences throughout time. The town is filled with breathtaking churches (Protestant), Museums and gardens.

Strasbourg is also famous for being the town that Gutenberg created the Printing Press. They have a statue dedicated to him in a plaza.

The museums range from modern art to taking a look at what life was like in the Alsace region during medieval times!

Strasbourg is also known as the Capital of Christmas with extravagant lights and a huge open market throughout the holiday season.

The town also has an amazing transportation system of trams and buses to keep pollution down. The city is in a valley so the pollution from Germany and Paris like to fall into this area. L

During WWII the Alsace region was one of the first regions of France to fall to Germany and the men of the region were forced to fight against their own country. During the Battle of Strasbourg American and French soldiers had to break through the leftover medieval walls in order to free the city from German Nazis.

Strasbourg is absolutely breathtaking and so full of history and culture J.