Moudon Chapel

First religious edifice of Les Gets once surrounded by a cemetery. Built on St Théodule patronage, it was first mentioned during the 15th century.

This primitive church is located in Moudon hamlet, first implantation place in Les Gets. It was built and dedicated to the bishop of Martigny in Valais, St. Théodule, died in 391. The legend tell that the saint would died in Moudon. The baronne de Châtillon gave the inhabitants a spade and a hoe made of silver to excavate the tomb. The grave-digger went off for lunch, and when he returned, he said that the precious things had disappeared, as well as the body of St. Théodule. Maybe it was gypsies that had taken everything. After this incident, it's said that fairies live in the mysterious grottos near Moudon. Sometimes when people are around in the evening, the fairies appear, have a cheerful chat, and disappear into the night. The chapel is very small : 10 metres long and 3.60 metres high. It was renovated in 1650 by Louis Rouge, a master builder. You can see the original stone above the entry, with the date "1651". As we know, this chapel never been inhabited by a priest, but some religious people were coming to fill in ecclesiastical missions. It knew a desolation period and been totally destroyed in 1793. In 1820, further to a hail storm having destroyed the harvests, a bell has been bought and blessed to repel storms. At the same time, the chapel has been renovated in 1821. Unfortunately, the bell was broken some years later. In 1895, a new bell of 194 kg, formed with the fragments of the old one, has been ordered to the Paccard Etablissements. Installed in the center of the edifice, it received the solemn baptism with the mission to hunt storms and harmful spirits. Dedicated to St. Théodule, it's godfather and payer was Guillaume Blanc. Les Gets inhabitants believed in this bell of Moudon to repel storms. It was ringing at each storm to protect the harvests. To the extent that La Côte d'Abroz inhabitants were complaining to suffer the storms that the bell repelled.