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The village of Eguisheim is located in the French département of Haut-Rhin in the Grand Est region of France, just about 7 km (4.5 miles) to the southwest of the city of Colmar. Eguisheim has more than 1,700 residents and borders on the Alsace Wine Route. Wine of very high quality is grown here, mainly on shell limestone soil. The village’s municipal area belongs to the Ballons des Vosges Nature Park and lies on the eastern slopes of the Vosges, where many great wines are produced.

In early historic times the area was inhabited by the Gaul tribe of the Senones. In the Roman Age, there was most likely already a castellum on the spot of Eguisheim and it used to be the Romans who developed the cultivation of wine in the Alsace region. The counts of Eguisheim, who ruled the municipal territory in the Early and High Middle Ages, descended from Charlemagne, who was King of the Franks and King of the Lombards in the second half of the 8th century, as well as Roman Emperor and ruler of western and central Europe as from the year 800.

In 1048, Count Bruno of Eguisheim raised to the papacy and thenceforth called himself Pope Leo IX. Right after his burial 1054 in the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, he was already venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. In the Middle Ages, a castle was built right in the centre of the Eguisheim, whose further history is closely related to the history of the Château de Eguisheim,

The castle was long believed to date from the 11th or 12th century. This was because historians were relying on texts actually describing another castle, the Château de Haut Eguisheim, which used to be the birthplace of Pope Leo IX in 1002 (who is named "Saint-Léon" in French). But In fact, the castle's octagonal plan and central keep, its masonry and, most importantly, its similarity to other castles date it to the first part of the 13th century.

Built by the counts of Eguisheim, the castle was taken over by the Bishop of Strasbourg during the second half of the 13th century. Until the French Revolution in 1789, episcopal bailiffs occupied it for many centuries. In 1444, the building was temporarily occupied by so-called Écorcheurs (in English: "cutthroats"), demobilised mercenaries, who devastated parts of France after the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War. During the Thirty Years' War, the château served as a repository for the church treasure of Husseren-les-Châteaux.

Originally the Château de Eguisheim was surrounded by a moat, but by the 18th century, the moat was filled in. Houses built in the castle courtyard and against its walls were destroyed by a fire in 1877 which also damaged the castle. Subsequently, it was left in ruins for several years. In 1885, the castle was again bought by the Bishop of Strasbourg. He organised the architect Charles Winkler to restore the residence and preserve the lower part of the circular wall. Furthermore, it was Winkler’s task to demolish the remains of the former keep and build a neo-Romanesque chapel in its place. This chapel, which is visible in the centre of my picture, was completed in 1895.

Today, the village is a popular tourist destination, not only because the Alsace Wine Route passes Eguisheim, but also because the commune is ranked in the top 20 of the association "The most beautiful villages of France" (in French: "Les Plus Beaux Villages de France"), which promotes small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage. Currently 164 villages throughout France are pooled under the umbrella of the organisation. In 2013, Eguisheim was even voted the "Village préféré des Français" (in English: "Favourite French Village"), an annual distinction that passes from town to town throughout France.

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