Riquewihr, France Christmas Market Walking Tour – 4K60fps with Captions – Prowalk Tours

This walking tour around the Christmas Markets of Riquewihr, France was filmed on Tuesday December 5th, 2023 starting at 12:02 PM at the Town Hall.

🗺️Map of the Walk – https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1XF6XSZ1Ss0IJH1k7x8aK2j8UWEUX3ow&usp=sharing 🗺️

🔻𝗩𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀🔻
0:00 Intro and Map
0:52 Town Hall
*3:28 Rue du Général de Gaulle*
*21:19 Dolder Tower*
24:23 Porte Haute (Upper Town Gate)
24:56 5. Rue des Remparts
34:01 Sinne Fountain
35:02 Rue du Cerf
47:04 Court of the Nobles
51:32 Rue des Orfevres
53:23 Sainte-Marguerite Protestant Church
56:20 Rue de la 1re Armée
58:51 Court of the Strasbourg
59:56 Sainte-Marguerite Church
1:03:53 Rue de la Couronne
1:09:10 Rue Kilian
1:15:31 Rue des Écuries
1:21:53 Rue Hederich
*1:27:21 Christmas Market*

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For the best viewing experience, be sure to watch on a large smart TV like the Samsung Frame. Closed Captions [CC] which include historical facts and descriptions are available in all languages. This tour was filmed using amazing Binaural Audio 🎧 which is a method of recording sound that uses two microphones, arranged with the intent to create a 3-D stereo sound sensation for the listener of actually being there.

No part of this video may be used for personal or private use without written permission from Prowalk Tours. I will not remove a copyright strike after one has been issued.

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Merry Christmas and welcome to Riquewihr, a pretty village in the Alsace region of France. Riquewihr is designated as one of the most beautiful villages in France. It is renowned for its historic architecture including half-timbered houses. The village is popular with tourists and has plenty of shops, restaurants and hotels.

Riquewihr is currently home to 1228 inhabitants. Houses in the old town were built between the 15th and 18th century. The urban fabric of the old town is dense and well preserved, making it feel like a time capsule!

Cheese lovers should not miss a visit to the Crèmerie Au Coin Gourmand, selling locally made cheese including sheep and goat. The origins of Riquewihr can be traced to the 8th century and a Frankish landlord named Richo.

Richo is said to have had a wine-growing estate on the site, called Richo villa, which became Riquewihr. Still today, Riquewihr is located on the Alsace Wine Route and is renowned for its wine industry.

The town is flanked to the north and south by the Vosges hills which are the perfect terrain for vines. Winemakers still produce well-respected wines like Schoenenbourg and Sporen, which were already being made in the Middle Ages.

There are plenty of wine cellars and wine bars around the town where you can do tastings of the local vintages. Many of Riquewihr’s traditional buildings are half-timbered, a type of construction common in this area thanks to abundant forests in the vicinity.

Half-timbered houses are characterised as being freestanding, without sharing any walls in common with neighboring buildings. Half-timbered houses have a kind of wooden skeleton as their structure. Traditionally, screws or nails were not used and timber was fitted together with carpentry and wooden plugs.

On the yellow building ahead, you can see wooden curved crosses. These indicated that someone important resided in the house. It is also common to see timber in the form of St Andrew crosses on these buildings. These symbolise multiplication, to wish for large families and lots of livestock.

It is also common to find timber in ‘v’ shapes, inverted ‘v’s, or diagonals. Once the wooden skeleton of half-timbered buildings is completed, it is filled in with mud and straw to make walls. The Dolder is a belfy, watchtower and gate to the town.

The Dolder is 25 meters high and was erected in 1291. Behind the Dolder is the Upper Gate, also built at the end of the 13th century. You can still see the wooden portcullis, which is one of the oldest in Europe.

On either side of the gate are the remains of the medieval defensive walls. The first fortifications date from 1291 and some of the corner towers are still in place. Around 1500, the fortifications were strengthened and further ramparts added.

The Upper Gate also still has the remains of where the drawbridge would have been fitted and a heavy two-leaf door. The Dolder tower was built in a deliberately austere style to repel attackers.

From the top of the tower you get an extensive view over the rooftops of the old town and across the Alsace plains. Here is an old wine press that has been repurposed to hold Christmas decorations!

Once the timber skeleton of half-timbered buildings is complete, the whole construction is covered with a lime render painted various colors like blue, pink, ochre or white. This is the heraldic lion with the coat of arms of the lords of Horbourg and that of Riquewihr.

This fountain is so-named because checks were carried out here on the capacity of wine barrels. It was erected in 1560. Witches are an important symbol of Riquewihr. In the 17th century, Marie Wolf was living happily with her fiancé in the town. But then war broke out and her fiancé was killed.

Marie was devastated and became a recluse with her sole companion, a black cat. Villagers began to nickname her the Witch. One evening, she was walking along the ramparts while the town was still under siege. Her sobs and wails were so eerie that the enemy soldiers turned and fled.

From then on, Marie became a symbol and guardian of the town. Figurines of witches are now used to ward off evil spirits. The legend is so famous that other communities in the Alsace region also use witches as symbols of protection.

The roofs of these traditional houses slope steeply to allow snow to slide off. The roof tiles are made from clay and formed like a beaver’s tail. This famous shop is jam-packed with all kinds of Christmas decorations.

Make sure you grab a glass of vin chaud, or hot wine, as you wander Riquewihr’s streets. If you are enjoying this tour so far, please leave a LIKE on the video and SHARE it with a friend. This really helps out the channel. Thanks!

Pork saucisse, a kind of salami, is another typical and delicious product of Riquewihr. This little market is filled with stalls selling traditional food products like salami and cheese. Riquewihr obtained town status in 1320, as evidenced by a document from the time.

The Court of the Nobles hosts a Christmas market during the festive period. The court is so named because it is home to a grand house built in 1523. The house is 800m2 and can be booked as rental accommodation. Stalls sell both white and red wine hot.

In 1324, the counts of Horbourg sold Riquewihr to count Ulrich of Wurttemberg. In 1407, the count of Wurttemberg married Henriette de Montfaucon, heiress of the country of Montbeliard. From then on, Riquewihr belonged to the counts of Wurttemberg-Montbeliard.

This church was completed in 1846, and built on the site of a former church dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries. From 1484 to 1489, Riquewihr became the capital of the Wurttemberg lands in Alsace. The timber in the shape of St Andrews crosses on buildings is also a symbol of protection.

In 1534, count Georges of Wurttemberg allowed the Swiss inspired reformation into his lands. Under Georges, the town’s church of St Erard was turned into a school for boys. Until 1324, this was the Strasbourg bishopric’s tithe, a tax levied by the clergy. The current Renaissance building dates from 1587.

The church houses a Stiehr-Mockers organ, which is now designated as a French Historical Monument. The square outside is known as the Place des Trois Elgises as there used to be three churches on this site.

The church we have just visited was the parish church, and the first building on this site dated back to the 12th century. Then there was also a pilgrimage church from the 14th century and the church of St Erard, also from the 14th century.

The s-shaped cross in timber indicates nobility lived here because it looks like a curule seat, which is what Roman dignitaries used to sit on. In 1559, Duke Christophe of Wurttemberg introduced the teachings of Martin Luther. In the 16th century, Riquewihr became very prosperous thanks to its vineyards.

Here you can see corn drying. Riquewihr has plenty of corn fields in the countryside around. During the 16th century, Riquewihr traded its renowned wine all over Europe. The wealth that winemaking brought the town enabled it to build double defensive walls in the 16th century.

During the Thirty Years War between 1618 and 1648, Riquewihr suffered badly. During the war, Riquewihr was subject to pillaging, ransoms, epidemics and famines. Here we are inside a traditional wine cellar, where you can still taste and buy wine.

This is a typical example of a wine grower’s house where the basement is constructed from stone to keep the wine cool. As French influence spread in Alsace, Riquewihr came under royal authority of Louis XIV in 1680. Even so, it remained owned by the counts of Württemberg-Montbéliard.

Here you can see some of the famed vineyards that brought the town its fortune. The first mention of wine growing in Riquewihr was in a document from 1094! In 1520, a Winegrowers’ Association was established in Riquewihr.

In the mid 18th century, one of the last dukes of Wurttenberg borrowed 540,000 pounds from the philosopher Voltaire and mortgaged the seigneurial revenues, in particular the Riquewihr vineyards. In 1796, the counts of Württemberg-Montbéliard were evicted under the treaty of Paris and Riquewihr finally became part of France.

During the French Revolution of 1789, the population of Riquewihr joined the Republic of France. The house ahead has a window that sticks out from the wall on the left known as an oriel. These allowed more daylight into the house and gave occupants a better view of the street.

The house with the oriel is built in stone, meaning it belonged to someone wealthy. The Hotel de Ville is one of the few ‘modern’ buildings in Riquewihr. It is built in neo-classical style and was designated as a historic monument in 1930. During WWII, the Alsace region was occupied by Germany.

Riquewihr was liberated by the Allies on December 5, 1944. During WWII, Riquewihr luckily escaped unscathed meaning today it seems like a historic time capsule. Riquewihr’s main Christmas markets are located here, on the edge of the historic center. You can find lots of traditional treats like gingerbread, bretzel and roast chestnuts.

Visitors to Riquewihr can be as many as 2 million a year. In 2022, Riquewihr was voted one of the most welcoming towns in France by tourists.