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Switzerland's Religious Landscape



Asclepiodotus-Inschrift in Sion.
The Monogram of Christ at the end of the second row: the two Greek letters chi and rho can be interpreted as the initial letters of the name CHRist

Sion – First Witnesses to the Faith

IWhat Blanke (p. 13) terms the oldest memorial to Christianity in Switzerland can be found in Sion (Sitten), the capital of the canton of Valais. It is the so-called “Asclepiodotus inscription” which can be found today on the ground floor of Sion Town Hall; it shows that the secret sign of the Christians, the Monogram of Christ flanked by the two ancient Christian letters A and O (alpha and omega), was being used around ad 377, the time from when this inscription plate dates. The Roman provincial governor in Sion, Pontius Asclepiodotus, who had the plate made in ad 377, was thus confessing openly to Christianity

Worth a visit:
Sion diocese, Diocese Museum
Sion Tourism

Last modified: 4.11.11