Montcherand, St. Etienne. Photo/Foto: TES

The Mural of Montcherand

The Romanesque church of Montcherand was built in the eleventh century and  donated to the monastery of Baulmes.

Documents confirm the foundation of the monastery of Baulmes in the 7th century and its subordination to the abbey of Cluny not later than 1123.

The clergymen of Payerne and Baulmes shared the same prior in 1356. This prior was also Lord of Montcherand.

The wall paintings of the church of Montcherand repainted after the introduction of the Reformation in 1536.

A photograph of some original fragments in 1902 was the beginning of a complete restauration project. The church is a national monument nowadays.

The Romanesque church in Donatyre, a small villages near Avenches, shows a copy of the fresco of Montcherand. This copy was painted in 1907.

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