The ecclesiastical treasures were sold to raise urgently needed funds, including the silver reliquary dating from 1450, which fetched 562 francs for the canton’s coffers.
It is shaped like a foot to reflect its contents– what were believed to be the foot bones of a little boy murdered in Bethlehem on the orders of King Herod.
While this might strike modern observers as creepy, believers regarded such relics as objects of religious veneration. A window of polished rock crystal allowed the relics to be viewed by the public on feast days, and churchgoers hoped that a glimpse of them would allow them to obtain divine aid.
