Legends from the St. Beatus Caves
Where rock, water and darkness meet, stories thrive. The St. Beatus Caves on Lake Thun have been a place that has fired people's imaginations for thousands of years - and, according to legend, even harboured a dragon.
The hermit of the Niederhorn
The entrance to the cave world on Lake Thun with the mountain stream, which plunges impressively into the depths, especially at high water, has been known to people in the region for thousands of years. As early as the Hallstatt period (750-450 BC), caves and grottoes in the rock face of the Beatenberg served as a refuge for people. According to legend, Suetonius, who was born in Scotland around 112 AD and was called Beatus as an adult, lived here. After his childhood in Ireland, Beatus travelled as a disciple of the prophet Peter. As an early Christian messenger of the faith, endowed with supernatural powers, he wanted to bring the pagan population to the right faith.
A Scotsman settles down
The journey from Ireland to Lake Thun was long and arduous. After crossing to the mainland, Beatus rode on horseback the long way to the Alps. Together with his friend Justus, Beatus made the pilgrimage along Lake Brienz to Sundlauenen, where the two strangers were warmly welcomed. After many years of travelling, Beatus grew tired and longed for a place where he could settle down. He found what he was looking for in Sundlauenen, where he set up his hermitage.
Freed from the dragon
The people in the village were happy that a wise and holy man came to their village. They told him about a vicious dragon that was destroying everything with its flames. They lived in fear and terror and hoped for help from the wise man. Beatus wanted to free the people from this fear and set out to drive the dragon away. He travelled by boat from Sundlauenen to the shore below the cave. He climbed up to the cave and defeated the monster with the power of his pilgrim's staff. When the dragon fell dead into the depths of Lake Thun, the people rejoiced.
Peace returns
The village came to rest and Beatus was able to devote himself to his life's work again. Next to the caves where the dragon once lived, Beatus found a small grotto, which he set up as a hermitage. Here he received sick and injured people to heal and bless them. With his supernatural powers, Beatus, like other Irish messengers of faith of his time, was able to tame nature with God's help and convince people of Christianity. Saint Beatus was known far and wide and many people travelled to him to ask for help. When the saint died at an advanced age, there was great mourning. His tomb can still be found today next to the entrance to the hermitage.
