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COLMAR

Colmar is the center of the 'Haut Rhin' region and is also known as 'Alsace Wine Capital' on the Alsace -Lorraine route. The town was found in the 9th century and it was ruled by French and German for many years before becoming totally French territory. By the way Colmar, is one of the towns in Europe that did not participate in WWII. Therefor there has been no damages or loss in the town during the World War. The population of Colmar is around 71.000. Every year the number of tourists visiting the town is increasing and therefor the latest statistics shows that the number of tourists have exceeded to 3.500.000 visitors. The road signs in town is easy and simple to follow. Therefor you in advance know in how many minutes you will reach your destination if you walk or ride a bicycle. The most beautiful decorted streets in town are Rue des Merchands, Rue des Boulengers and Rue de Merciere. We had stayed in Colmar for 2 nights and 3 days and here is the list of the places to be visited.


Frederic Auguste Bartholdi: You may not remember his name but you definitely know the 'Statue of Liberty' which is in New York City. The monument was built by the sculptor Bartholdi who was born in 1886 in Colmar. The statue was made for the 100th anniversary celebrations of United States. The replica of the ‘Statue of Liberty’ is in a park near the train station. There is a 3-storey museum named after Bartholdi in the center of 'Old Town'. In Bartholdi Museum sculptors and personal belongings are exhebited. The entrance fee is €6p/person. Just across the road there is a restaurant which is called ‘Bartholdi Restaurant’. You cannot miss the bronze plates of the statue of liberty on the pavements. If you follow them they will lead you to the house where Bartholdi was born. This house is known as 'Salle du Corps de Garde'.


Unterlinden Museum: The museum is in the building of the Monastery. It was built in 13century and opened to the visitors on 19century. Romanesque-Gothic sculptures, Medieval paintings and paintings from Monet, Dubuffet and Picasso are exhabited.

Maison Tetes: In 1609 Albert Schmidtn had built it in red color as Renaissance structure. There are 106 different head figures on the outer surface of the building. Today, the building is used as a restaurant and a hotel.

St. Martin Church: (1235-1365) Although it was built as a church because of its size its actually a Cathedral. It has a Gothic structure. Interior decorations are amazing.

Rue des Marchands: This is the smallest house in Colmar, the size is of a 'matchbox'.

Au Vieux Pignon: It is a gift shop. The exterior of the building is decorated with colorful lights and white polar bears on Christmas. It is one of the places where almost all the visitors visiting Colmar stops by and takes photos.
Marche Couvert: This is a closed market. The building was built in 1865 with the red brick and metal outer covering and it was restored in 2010. It is the place where you can find different kind of souvenirs of Colmar and also you can buy food such as salami, sausage, cheese, mustard and different kind of local spices on the beautiful Christmas stalls in the market. Even if you do not intend to shop by the time you come out of the market your hands will be full of bags. Only on Thursdays you will see a vegetable market near ‘Marche Couvert’. It is open until 2pm. After 2pm the municipality takes over by collecting the garbage, washing the streets and in less than 30 minutes all the flowerpots and benches are placed where the market was in the morning. 

Dominican Church: It has a magnificent architecture with the famous painting of Schongauer. The stained window glass are from 14century.
Musee du Jouet: It is a museum of toys from 19th century which are exhebited. The entrance is free for children under 8 and €5.30 for adults.

Pfister House: The house was built in 1537 dating back to Renaissance by Ludwig Schener. The exterior decorations of the building is just amazing. ‘Pfister House’ is listed as a 'Historical Monument' since 1927. The houses of Colmar has different colors and a wide history. When walking in the streets you will also see fountains designed totally different than the other. Fontaine de L’Amiral Bruat (1864) and Fontaine Schwendi (1898) are just a couple of them. 
Le Petit Venise: On our second day in Colmar we took the famos Canal Tour in the Old Town. The tour is for 25 minutes and is €6 but if you buy the ticket in advance from your hotel you only pay €5. In winter, the canal tour is operating from 11- 1pm and 2.30 -3.30pm. The tour starts from Gulf Bay and continues to Fishmongers Wharf. It ends at Pierre Bridge. It was awesome to see the colorful houses with wooden frames well decorated as it was Christmas time. Many houses had Santa Claus or big white polar bears hanging out from the balconies for the decoration. It takes you from the reality to fairy tale. The different kinds of wooden shapes on the shutters had different meanings. If it is a heart shape it ment that there is an unmarried girl in the house, one long or two short lines on the windows ment the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit trilogy. Although the weather was cold, the reflection of the trees and floating red leaves on the water made our canal trip more enjoyable . If you want to take a canal tour by boat (www.barques-colmar.fr)

There is also a sightseeing train in Colmar. The wagons are pulled by the green locomotive starting from 3 Rue Kleber and goes as a circle in the town. On our 3rd day we took this tour. The presentation is in 16 different languages which is by the headphones given to you when you get on the train. You can find more information of the green train on www. contact@colmarentrain.fr

Colmar is a beautiful town and many activities can be done depending on the time of the year of your visit. If you have not visited yet you must plan to do so which I highly recommend.

COLMAR

In November 2019 on our Christmas market route our next stop after Basel was Colmar. In 40-minute journey from Basel SBB train station, we had arrived in Colmar. The town is on Alsace – Lorraine route and located in the north east of France. Colmar was chosen the 2nd best Christmas market in Europe for the year of 2018. It was than I had decided to go and visit the town.

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