Chapel of Saint Apollonia

The Sainte-Apolline chapel is located on the Way of Saint James in Switzerland between Fribourg and Romont in the municipality of Hauterive. It is situated on the bridge of the same name over the Glâne. On the other side of the bridge lies the municipality of Villars-sur-Glâne. The bridge and the chapel are listed as cultural properties of national importance under the number KGS 10500.

The small chapel is dedicated to Saint Apollonia of Alexandria. According to legend, Apollonia died as a martyr around 249 AD, where, among other things, her teeth were pulled out. She was invoked for toothaches and ailments and is the patron saint of dentists. Until the Middle Ages, regionally venerated saints were still called upon for assistance in monasteries and churches for all emergencies, but from the High Middle Ages onward, there was a growing specialization of healing abilities attributed to very specific saints. They received what are called special patronages. Saint Apollonia enjoyed a particularly good reputation for healing teeth. The peak of the cult of Apollonia was in Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries, with a second resurgence during the Counter-Reformation. In 1990, 16th-century archaeologists found many decayed teeth inside the current chapel in addition to silver.

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