Minoritenkirche

The Minorite Church was completed in 1739 and is considered one of the loveliest Late Baroque churches in Austria. It has remained unchanged to the present as an ensemble comprising the Loreto chapel, sacristy, crypt, and hermitage. The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Saint John of Nepomuk. It is owned by the town and underwent an exemplary renovation around 1990.

The interior features beautiful ceiling frescos, the high altar, a side altar dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi and a highly ornamental pulpit with magnificent carvings.

The Loreto chapel contains an insider’s tip: a replica of the Black Madonna of Loreto. It can be found here behind wooden baroque latticework. It is surrounded by angels and illuminated by the small side windows. The carvings on the doors to the chapel depict two scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary: the Annunciation and the Visitation.

Under the Loreto Chapel is the hermitage as well as several cellar rooms lined with stones and shells, probably a chamber of repentance from baroque times.

Visitors to the lower church today can still see the “soul hole” through which the soul could escape after death. The lower church served as the burial place for monks from the monastery. Several burial niches contain members of the order who died from 1750 to 1780.

Public arrival is easily accessible by train or bus.