Collégiale Saint-Martin de Colmar

What makes it special

Look at the stone before you go in. The walls are Vosges sandstone cut from several quarries, so the colour shifts from pale yellow through pink to violet as you walk round. Above them, the roof is laid in coloured glazed tiles.

The church was planned with two towers, and only the south one was built. Its bulb-shaped Renaissance cap, with no spire, is the shape to look for from the surrounding streets. Find the clock with the red face: the words beneath it read memento mori, remember that you are mortal.

The Saint Nicholas portal on the south side is 13th-century work. Its lower panel tells his legend, with the three maidens and their poor father and the three students he saved. On the outer arch, the fourth statue from the left is said to show Master Humbret, the master whose name is carved on the portal, holding a square.

Inside, walk the ambulatory, the curved passage behind the choir, which few Alsatian churches have. Look for the 13th-century head of a beardless Christ. The carved Baroque organ case dates from 1755, though its pipes were replaced in 1979.

Visiting

Best taken on a walk between the Maison Pfister and the Bartholdi Museum, the church fits into any route through the old town. Start outside: walk round the walls to the Saint Nicholas portal on the south side, and find the red clock face on the tower.

Then go in and walk up the nave, five bays long and plain, toward the choir with its carved wooden stalls and high altar. Look behind the altar for the ambulatory; the chapels opening off it are closed to the public.

On the way back down the nave, stop by the door and turn round to see the whole interior, the stained glass and the organ case at once. Half an hour covers it; give it longer if you want to study the carved altarpieces.

Tips

On a Sunday morning, listen for the bells at about 10:30: they have traditionally rung at full peal for around fifteen minutes.

The upkeep runs on donations, so carry a few coins if you want to leave something. In Advent the square sits inside the Christmas market crowds, so do the nave first thing and the stalls after.