Our resident Ambrosian expert Nicola de’ Grandi recently visited the abbey of St Martin in the town of Disentis, which is located in the central Swiss canton of Grisons, about 35 miles to the southeast of Lucerne. In Romansch, a Romance language which is spoken principally in Grisons, the town is called “Mustér”, which is to say, monastery, after this foundation, which began in the late 7th or early 8th century. The monastery is also dedicated to the Virgin Mary, to St Peter, and to its founders, Placidus and Sigbert, but St Martin is the titular of the main church. Like so many ancient monasteries, it has been rebuilt many times; the current church dates to the late 17th and early 18th century.
The main sanctuary and choir.
The nave seen as one looks back from the crossing.
The altar to the left of the main choir is dedicated to St Benedict
The preaching pulpit
An altar dedicated to two Saints named Theophilus and Purpurinus, whose relics were taken from a Roman catacomb and given to the abbey in 1672.
The Agnus Deis displayed over it, made by Pope Clement XI within the first year of his reign (1700-01.)
The altar of St Joseph, with Ss Joachim and Anna.
An altar of the Pietà, for Masses for the Dead.
An altar dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, and several of the martyrs, most prominently St Barbara.
Modern paintings added to the ceiling as part of a major restoration done in the 1910s and ’20s, which show episodes from the monastery’s history. These were painted by an artist well-known in the region named Fritz Kunz, whose brother Leo was a member of the monastic community and the church’s organist.
A painted inscription recording the rededication of the church in 1712.
