Church of Montcherand

This Cluniac church, 2 km from Orbe, is decorated with 12th-century frescoes, the oldest figurative paintings in Switzerland. It is located at the crossroads of two pilgrimage routes: the Camino de Santiago and the ViaFrancigena.The church, which was probably built as early as the 10th century, was initially under the priory of Baulmes before it passed to the Benedictine monastery of Payerne in the 11th century. It was thus indirectly dependent on Cluny throughout the Middle Ages. The 12th-century frescoes show the twelve apostles flanking a central figure, now lost, and Christ, of whom only a fragment survives. The wall painting is complemented by decorative elements and an inscription in Latin, an excerpt from the Gospel of Matthew.In 1992 an association was created with the aim of ensuring the restoration (completed that same year) and conservation of this church, its frescoes and its furniture, but also the information of the general public.Source: yverdonlesbainsregion.ch/de/P15077/kirche-von-montcherand