Tag: Notre Dame

When heading down from Chexbres, one sees, planted in the middle of the terraced vineyards of Lavaux and accessible from the Route de la Corniche, the Notre Dame cross. It marks the fact that this was a stop for pilgrims for many centuries. The 25^th of March, the feast of the Annunciation to Mary, was celebrated in the Lausanne Cathedral with a large gathering. But for reasons of distance as well as safety because the roads were infested with robbers, large numbers of pilgrims came to this high spot, from which they could see the cathedral. Until the 19^th century, Protestants and Catholics continued to come here and to pray. In 1975, when the cathedral celebrated its 700^th anniversary, the two Churches put up the iron cross that is there today, to honour this spot so symbolic of ecumenism.