Petronilla chapel Feldkirch

The Petronillakapelle stands in the quiet western edge of Feldkirch’s old quarter, in the district of Altenstadt. Built as a small field church, it gave the town its name. The chapel first appears in records around 842 and passed to the Premonstratensian monastery at Churwalden in 1222. In 1505 it was enlarged and in 1888 transformed into a Lourdes grotto. Today it honours two saints: Petronilla and Martin. Inside, the chapel combines a square choir, a nave and a small sacristy tucked behind the altar. A painted panel shows Martin on horseback sharing his cloak with a beggar, while another depicts both saints side by side. A carved rood carries figures of Martin and Petronilla beneath the cross. The most striking feature is the 1914 fresco of Our Lady of Lourdes, painted by Florus Scheel. Visitors step from the lane into a calm courtyard and then through the low wooden door. The nave’s white walls frame the vivid fresco, while the grotto niche on the left holds a statue of the Virgin. Outside, the surrounding meadows and the old village core keep the chapel apart from the town’s later streets.