Saint-Etienne of Montcherand

26 January 2021

The Church St. Etienne of Montcherand (canton Vaud) is situated on the crossroads of three roads of pilgrimage, the way to Santiago de Compostella, the Via Francigena leading from Canterbury to Rome, and the Itinerary of sites of the Abbey of Cluny.

The mural of the church dates from the 12th century. The mural is well preserved, due to the whitewashing of the walls in 1536, the time of the Reformation and the Bernese occupation.

The mural is the oldest example in French-speaking Switzerland of the representation of human figures in art.

The Romanesque church in Donatyre shows a copy of this mural. The copy was painted in 1907.

(Source: K. Queijo, L’église Saint-Etienne de Montcherand, Montcherand, 2018).