Kapelle St. Agatha, Medieval chapel in Disentis/Mustér, Switzerland.
Kapelle St. Agatha is a simple church with one nave and three apses built into the walls as shallow alcoves. These recesses are barely visible from outside and do not shape the building's outward appearance.
The chapel stands on the old Lukmanierweg west of Disentis, not in the Rhine gorge. Its round-arched apse windows suggest a construction around 1100. After a fire in 1387, Abbot Petrus von Pontaningen had it rebuilt in 1420, renewing the ceiling and raising the roof and tower. In 1600 it passed from the monastery to the parish.
The chapel walls show frescoes from different periods, including scenes from Saint Agatha's life painted in the 15th century. These religious paintings tell her story in colored images on the inner walls.
The chapel sits beside the La Pendenta suspension bridge over the Rhine and is reachable through hiking trails in the region. Wear sturdy shoes, as the paths are hilly and sometimes steep.
The chapel's 1489 altar by Ivo Strigel stood here for centuries before being moved in 1941 to the parish church Sogn Gions in Disentis, which had room to display it at full height. A second, smaller altar is now in the abbot's private chapel.
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