, this house of God
proclaims afar its destination and leaves a deep and indelible
impression on the soul of any one who gazes on it.

Exhibiting in all its different parts models of every epoch of
christian architecture, this Cathedral is for the artist a
subject of serious study and for the inhabitant of Strasburg a
venerable monument, which recalls to his mind the principal
events of the ancient history of our city.

According to some old traditions, the Cathedral is built on a
spot, which, from the remotest times, had been devoted to
worship. Originally this spot formed a hill sloping westward into
a cavity, which was filled up many centuries ago. Around it, the
Celts, the first inhabitants of our country, built their huts:
its summit was covered by the sacred wood, in the midst of which
rose the druidical _dolmen_. It was there that those barbarians
offered sacrifices to Esus, their God of war, sacrifices which,
in times of public calamity, were human victims.

After the conquest of Gaul by the Romans, a regular and fortified
town was very soon founded on the place hitherto occupied by the
scattered habitations of the Celts. The old name of _Argentorat_
was alone preserved; it signified a town where the river is
crossed over. It was there, according to tradition, that a temple
dedicated to Hercules and Mars succeeded the druidical forest.
There is nothing unlikely in these traditions; the high ground on
which the Cathedral stands speaks as much in their favour as the
pagan statues found in the neighbourhood[1].

[1] A brass statue of Hercules, called _Krutzmann_, was found
among the christian statues that decorated the Cathedral; it was
taken down in 1525 and is no longer extant. A Hercules of stone,
found no doubt when digging the foundations, is yet seen in a
niche of the northward tower, where it juts out into the nave. A
small stone figure of Mars, coming also from the Cathedral, was
preserved in the town-library, but it appeared to be modern.

With respect to the first erection of a christian church in this
place, history is destitute of authentic facts. Some old
chronicles report that about the middle of the fourth century,
saint Amand built a church on the ruins of a Roman temple, but
the existence of this supposed first bishop of Strasburg is even
very doubtful. During the first years of the fifth century, the
invasion of barbarians filled the provinces of Gaul with terror
and devastat