Mount Sainte-Odile (The Low-Rhine):

Among all the Alsatian archeological sites, theSainte-Odile Mount is one of the most famous sites. Its history seems to begin at the Gallic era, between the end of theIInd century and the beginning of the Ist century before J.-C., with the construction of a gigantic defensive wall known under the name of "pagan wall". This ancient fortification, without equivalent in the north of the Alps, finally could be allotted, after various interpretations and of many studies of the techniques of construction, with the civilization of the Celtic oppida, whose strategic function was of primary importance. At the Roman era, this site was forsaken little by little, especially during the "pax romana". But it was re-occupied during late Antiquity and during the Early middle ages, as it is proven by the updated vestiges. The creation of a monastery of women in the VIIth century established by the duke of Alsace, Etichon, and directed by her daughter Odile, made it possible to theSainte-Odile Mount to become a high place of Christendom and an important center of pilgrimage. Besides It is in the monastery of Hohenbourg that one could see the tomb of the first abbess.