Colmar is a town and commune in the Haut-Rhin département of Alsace, France. In 1999 Colmar had a population of 65,136. Colmar is also the chief town of the arrondissement of Colmar, with 86,832 inhabitants. Colmar is 40 miles (64 kilometers) south-southwest of Strasbourg, at 48.08°N, 7.36°E, on the Lauch River. It is connected to the Rhine River by a canal. The well-preserved old city center houses several, sometimes large-scale buildings in German Gothic and early Renaissance style, as well as a number of old churches, among which the collégiale Saint-Martin (13th-16th century) is the largest and most noteworthy. Local 15th century artist Martin Schongauer painted what is considered his masterpiece, The Madonna of the Roses, in Colmar's Eglise des Dominicains(Dominican Church). Matthias Grünewald's famous Isenheim Altarpiece is the most noteworthy of the treasures housed in the city's Unterlinden Museum.
