Altkirch, France - June 18, 2012

Back in the relative comfort of France our next stop was Altkirch, a little town of 5,500 or so in the southern end of the Haut-Rhin department of Alsace. The town is traditionally regarded as the capital of Sundgau - German for South Country - the name given to the part of Alsace between the Jura mountains and Switzerlandand. The city's name comes from the German Alte Kirche, or old church.
The town is on a small hill which was the site of an earlier castle destroyed in the 17th century, the remnants of which were subsequently used as landfill before the church was constructed. Although no vestige of the castle remains be seen, there are still a few remnants of the defensive ramparts that once completely encircled the town and a good part of La Vieille Porte - the old gate - still exists at one entrance to the old town. The Place de la Republique contains a few renaissance period houses as well as a substantial sculptured fountain called the Fontaine de la Vierge.
More pictures here.