Rhine-Reuss-Rhône route: Martigny - St. Maurice

The chapel under the castle hill of Martigny is the actual pilgrimage site in the town at the foot of the Great St. Bernard. We walk on the Via Francigena towards Lake Geneva and take a look at the scenic Trient Gorge. As the first site of St. Maurice, we reach the chapel at Martyrs' Square Vérolliez. There, the mercenaries of the Egyptian legion from Thebes under the command of Maurice were decimated because they did not want to persecute their Christian brothers. Five glass steles lead us into the town to the 1500-year-old Abbey of St. Maurice. We visit the abbey church and the excavation sites with the audio guide. Past the tomb of Maurice, we reach the newly established museum of the abbey treasure via a catacomb passage. The reliquary shrines and the gifts that popes, emperors, and kings brought when visiting the tomb of St. Maurice are the most valuable things the Valais has.