Growing more prosperous thanks to its vineyards, Riquewihr reached its golden age in the 16th century. On both sides of its main street, half-timbered houses from the 15th to the 18th centuries bear witness to the prestige-based rivalry between wealthy bourgeois. Their facades displayed the prosperity and the coat of arms of their owner. The houses were adorned with elements symbolizing virility, fertility, or wealth, and their wooden beams were rebuses for those who could read them.