Murbach Abbey facade

The abbey of Murbach (near Guebwiller - Alsace, France) was founded in 727 as a Columban abbey (i.e. following the Rule of St. Columbanus), when it had grown ill-disciplined years later a new bishop took over and introduced the Rule of St. Benedict.

The now Benedictine abbey became one of the most important centers of learning in the upper Rhine valley and aside from that also powerful in the secular world. 3 Towns and 30 villages were under the rule of the monastery and Charlemagne himself took the title "Abbot of Murbach" (Pastor Murbacencis) (in a secular sense) in 782-783.

The good fortunes of the monastery took a hit when the Hungarians invaded the Alsace in the 10th century, but by the time of the 13th century it prospered again.

From the 14th century on its influence started to decline until the French Revolution (1789) dealt the abbey the death blow.

The Romanesque Church of St. Leger is one of the few buildings that still remain of the monastery (though only about a half is still standing).

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Camera: Mamiya 7
Lens: Mamiya N 1:4 f=80mm L
Film: Fujicolor Provia ISO 400 slide film
scanned from film @ 3200 dpi resulting in over 100 Mb of jpg

If I remember correctly:
Exposure time: 1/180th second
Aperture: 16