The Vérolliez Chapel

Tradition has always affirmed the Vérolliez plain as the true site of the martyrdom of Saint-Maurice and his companions. It is two kilometres to the south of Agaune.

Today, there is a chapel there which commemorates the event. Essentially, this chapel dates from the XVIIIth century. Archaeological excavations undertaken at the time of the last restoration from 1982 to 1984 discovered the foundations of a XIIIth century chapel and one from the Xth century under the present-day building.

In the interior of the chapel on a gantry with two columns, going back to 1744, you see the so-called Saint-Maurice-Stone. Invalids used to come and place themselves under this stone to be cured. The baroque gilded wood altarpiece dates from 1747 and is the work of a certain Jean Bozzo. At the front, the new altar, painted in blood-red, carries an inscription drawn from the Passion of the martyrs of Agaune by Saint Eucher, Bishop of Lyon in 430:

"We are your soldiers, o emperor, but above all we are God's servants. We owe military obedience to you, but to Him we owe our innocence."

An enormous edifice of a social character, built by the Sisters of Saint-Maurice, a community founded by Canon Maurice-Eugène Gard in 1863, has stood very close to the chapel since 1900. Abandonned for about thirty years, this building was restored and has been "une Maison de la famille" - a House for families - since 1997.