Rhein-Reuss-Rhôneweg: Salgesch - St. Léonard

The medieval pilgrimage centre Salgesch is the last German-speaking place on the language border. A huge landslide from the Varneralp covered the remains of the former Rhone Glacier 13,000 years ago and the remaining glacier transported the material to today's Sierre. On one of the remaining hills still stands the monastery Gerunden, whose first church was built in the 5th century. In the middle of the heavily sprawled town of Sierre, Christophorus greets you at the entrance façade of the former medieval parish church of Notre-Dame-des-Marais. In the west of Sierre we climb into the vineyard. Behind the Château Villa – the epicentre of raclette and wine in Valais – we meet the chapel of St. Ginier, where a Christian sanctuary is said to have stood as early as the 7th century. We enjoy the path through the vineyard to St. Léonard, where an illuminated Mother of God is waiting for us at the back of the underground lake.

We walk slightly elevated above the Rhone plain on the sunny slope. We get to a bus stop every half hour, except for the last hour of the way, where there is no alternative to hiking.