Sainte Pétronille Spring

The Sainte Pétronille Spring, nestled near the Dompeter in Avolsheim, is steeped in legend and history. Located on the Alsace Wine Route about twenty kilometers from Strasbourg, it has been noted since the Middle Ages for its beneficial properties, especially against fevers and infertility. Since the 18th century, it has been sheltered under a Vosges sandstone edicule, a small structure that protects it while highlighting its local significance.

Its name originates from a legend in which Pétronille, the spiritual daughter of the Apostle Peter, joined Saint Materne and his disciples at a crossroads of Roman roads leading to Altitona (Mont Sainte-Odile), Trestabernae (Saverne), Germania, and Gaul. It was near this spot that the spring was discovered, offering its healing virtues.

Popular tradition also attributes healing powers to the sarcophagus located near the church, although it actually belongs to a Roman patrician named Terentia Augustula. Even today, visitors place a sugar cube in the frame of a small window of the edicule: if it disappears, the wish made is said to come true.