Les Halles d'Obernai

Les Halles d'Obernai is a historic market hall in the middle of the old town, and it stands on one of the best-preserved medieval market squares in Alsace. The hall is a building of the late Middle Ages, with a large timber-framed upper floor over a ground floor of arches, and it once served as a covered market where traders sold grain, cloth and other goods under the protection of the town authorities. Today it houses the tourist office, which offers information on local history, monuments, the Alsace Wine Route and the produce of the region, and it is a good first stop for visitors. Stalls and market days vary, so ask at the office for the current arrangements.

The hall faces the Place du Marché, a broad square that is the centre of the town. In the middle stands the Puits aux Six Seaux, the Six-Bucket Well, a Renaissance well with a canopy, in which six buckets hang from chains, which once supplied the whole neighbourhood and is now a favourite subject for photographs. Around the square are half-timbered houses with steep roofs and flower boxes, the town hall, a Renaissance building, and a tall tower of the old walls, the Kappelturm, the Chapel Tower, whose ground floor houses a small chapel, and the town's belfry-like profile gives the old centre its character. Nearby streets, such as the Rue des Tonneliers, the street of the coopers, recall the trades that served the wine industry.

Obernai is also linked to the patron saint of Alsace, Odile. According to tradition, Odile was the daughter of a seventh-century duke of Alsace, born blind and healed at baptism, who became the first abbess of a convent on the hill that now bears her name, the Mont Sainte-Odile, a few kilometres from the town. The mountain is a place of pilgrimage with wide views over the plain of Alsace. The Château de la Montagne Sainte-Odile and the surrounding forest offer walking trails.

The local wine, made on the hills around the town, includes Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer, and the Domaine des Vins d'Obernai and other producers offer tastings. The Musée Historique d'Obernai gives local history, and the town holds festivals such as an autumn event around the speciality of sauerkraut and a Christmas market. The Église Saint-Maurice, listed nearby, belongs to a different town, while the main parish church of Obernai is a nineteenth-century neo-Gothic building.

A visit takes one or two hours. It suits wine lovers, couples and families, and the town is between Strasbourg and Colmar, easily reached by train and road.