Couvent Saint-Trophime d'Eschau, Benedictine monastery in Eschau, France

The Couvent Saint-Trophime d'Eschau is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Eschau with a church featuring three naves and a transept. The outer walls are built from sandstone and covered with sandy lime mortar.

The monastery was founded around 770 by Bishop Remigius of Strasbourg and housed a community of Benedictine nuns for about 750 years. The tradition ended in 1525 as major changes swept the region.

The monastery holds a sandstone sarcophagus with relics of Saint Sophia and displays statues of saints and stained glass windows from different periods. The religious community shaped this sacred place through its presence over many centuries.

The church stands in the centre of Eschau, south of Strasbourg, and is reached on foot from the village streets. The entrance is through the wooden double door in the main gable facade; the nave, the lower side aisle with its five arched windows and the wing to the right can be viewed in sequence. The former cloister is no longer here: its carved parts from the 11th and 12th centuries are kept in the Musée de l'Œuvre Notre-Dame in Strasbourg.

Archaeological excavations in 1997 uncovered Carolingian capitals in the foundations, revealing connections to earlier buildings from the 8th century. These findings show that the monastery was built upon the remains of older religious structures.