St. Georges Church

St. George's Church, Selestat, is a Gothic church in Selestat, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France. The congregation, of outstanding size and quality, is close to the Humanist Library, which was established in 1452 by Jean de Westhuss, cleric at the congregation of St. George's. Initially devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the congregation has been named after Saint George since 1500 and is renowned for its Christmas trees hung since 1521.

The structure was first referenced in records from the eighth century and was initially a baptismal church in the majestic royal residence worked by Charlemagne, which the head is accepted to have visited at Christmas in the year 775. The congregation remains on the remaining parts of a huge rotunda, in part cleared amid unearthings in the grave in 1876 and 1902.

A large portion of the Gothic basilica was worked by Selestat brokers, a couple of meters from the Romanesque church of the cloister of Sainte-Foy, the prior chapel of the town, and its development might be held to check the developing riches and autonomy of the trader classes. Working of the new church — on a Latin cross groundplan with three paths and a transept — began around 1220 and proceeded without interference until the mid 15th century.