It was in this area, originally way off the beaten tracks of economic flow, that an Abbey was founded which brought together three great names of history
A unique monument on the Roman Road

On the map of Roman roads of Alsace, each red square marks a Roman site. The more exceptional sites are underlined. There are a great number of sites in the prosperous regions at the foot of the Vosges, in the vineyards and on the silt plain between the vineyards and the river Ill.
It is along the banks of the Ill that the largest towns of Alsace are located : Mulhouse, Colmar, Séléstat, Strasbourg on the confluence of the Ill and the Rhine.


From north to south, from Wissembourg to Neuwiller-les-Saverne, Marmoutier, Rosheim, Andlau, Séléstat, Murbach, Guebwiller, Feldbach … the prosperity of the towns and villages favoured the erection of a great number of churches and abbeys.
On the other hand, along the Rhine on the poor Rhine strip, except for Strasbourg which is an Episcopal City and Eschau, foundation of the bishop it is an architectural desert. The only monument which exists is the Abbey of Ottmarsheim.