First here is another photo from the church I visited yesterday, an ox, the symbol for St Luke. They think these 12th century frescoes were painted by a pilgrim passing through on the Via Francigena.
Today was supposed to be all rain, and it did rain on and off, but gently. I spent a long while at breakfast in the hotel bar which was now open. Several French and Swiss gentlemen were having a lively political discussion and included me at the end. Unfortunately their conclusions were negative and the only solution they could see was voting for the far right.
And to the south, Lac Léman (Lake Geneva). Hard to see, but it lies beneath the high mountains on the right (that are actually in France).
I then spent a lot of time in Romainmôtier. This is a village with an abbey church, most of which dates from the 12th century, although parts are older and parts are newer.
Looking towards the back of the church.
This is a well-used church, with services every day of the week except for Mondays (today). It also hosts a series of classical concerts every year, and my mother attended several with her Swiss-English friends during her stays in Switzerland.
Saint Romain, after whom the village is named, came to this area in 425 as a hermit, seeking silence and solitude. A community grew up around him and in 445 he started a monastery in what is now this village. In 610 St Columbanus (born in Ireland and a tireless wanderer spreading the faith) came, found the monastery in ruins and built a new one in its place. In 928 the monastery and its lands were given to the Cluny orders who built the church as we know it now. In 1536 with the Reformation the abbey was closed and the church became a Protestant place of worship. The church today seeks to bring together all Christians in ecumenical worship.
It was then too late to finish the walk so I went to a station in the next village and caught a train to Cossonay. Rebecca and I shared a last dinner and a good omen in a perfect rainbow.
Today was supposed to be all rain, and it did rain on and off, but gently. I spent a long while at breakfast in the hotel bar which was now open. Several French and Swiss gentlemen were having a lively political discussion and included me at the end. Unfortunately their conclusions were negative and the only solution they could see was voting for the far right.
A reminder that Switzerland is not a big country. At one brief point standing still I could see two of the country’s major lakes. To the north, Lac de Neuchâtel.
And to the south, Lac Léman (Lake Geneva). Hard to see, but it lies beneath the high mountains on the right (that are actually in France).
I then spent a lot of time in Romainmôtier. This is a village with an abbey church, most of which dates from the 12th century, although parts are older and parts are newer.
Looking towards the back of the church.
This is a well-used church, with services every day of the week except for Mondays (today). It also hosts a series of classical concerts every year, and my mother attended several with her Swiss-English friends during her stays in Switzerland.
Saint Romain, after whom the village is named, came to this area in 425 as a hermit, seeking silence and solitude. A community grew up around him and in 445 he started a monastery in what is now this village. In 610 St Columbanus (born in Ireland and a tireless wanderer spreading the faith) came, found the monastery in ruins and built a new one in its place. In 928 the monastery and its lands were given to the Cluny orders who built the church as we know it now. In 1536 with the Reformation the abbey was closed and the church became a Protestant place of worship. The church today seeks to bring together all Christians in ecumenical worship.
An art work in the church by a refugee from Afghanistan, Roqieh Hosseini, now living in Switzerland after many years in a refugee camp in Greece.
It was then too late to finish the walk so I went to a station in the next village and caught a train to Cossonay. Rebecca and I shared a last dinner and a good omen in a perfect rainbow.
I've never seen anything like the ceiling of that abbey church! And to think that both you and your mother spent time gazing up at it-- very cool. It makes the passage of time seem suddenly irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteGreat images and explanations of scenery in the French and Swiss countryside! I, too, like old buildings and local conversations!!
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