Churches and monasteries

A beautifully restored Baroque church featuring an onion-domed steeple.
The original church was consecrated in 1370. Inside, the high altar displays a depiction of the Baptism of Jesus, while the side altar features a painting of St. Elisabeth by Franz Unterberger (1707–1776).

Holy Mass in Italian:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:00 AM
Saturday at 6:00 PM
Sundays and ecclesiastical holidays at 6:00 PM (during July, August, and the Christmas season).

The church, mentioned as far back as 1332, with its flat ceiling was increased in height in the late Gothic period and lengthened by the chancel with ribbed vaults above short round pillars and pointed corbels. The church was rededicated in 1472. The small tower that was built from hewn stone at the same time as the chancel remained incomplete and was later finished in brick.

In 1900 the church was extensively renovated. There is a large painting on the façade at the top of which the earlier, lower gable can be seen. In addition there is a broad border with small bust portraits in quatrefoils. On the southern side is the sundial which bears the date 1537. Inside there are traces of gilded frescoes from the early 15th century. The winged shrine with ancient sculptures is of the Schnatterpeck school.

St. Rupert’s Church was most recently renovated in 2007/08, and the altar dedication took place on 21st September 2008.

The location of the chapel on the highest point of the San Silvestro Valley, has been identified as a prehistoric hillfort. Pre-christian sanctuaries were mostly build in such high located spots. It is therefore possible that also the San Silvestro Chapel was one of the pre-german shepherd's sacred places with a sacrificial altar.

This small, originally Romanesque, church named after the not so well known Saint, is situated on a unique basalt hill above Lana.

St. Hippolyt is a popular destination for excursions, a mythical place of energy since ancient times and an archaeological excavation site of prehistoric times. On St.Hippolyt one of the oldest settlement areas of the region was located.

The place was first mentioned in writing around 1200 A.D. but findings of Neolithic arrow heads, blades and scraping tools are proof of early settlements dating back 4,000 years.

Some of the excavated items are on display at the site. There are also traces of fire scenes that prove that this place was a scene of pagan rituals long before it became a Christian site.

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The exposed location above Lana offers a fantastic panoramic view and accounts for the popularity of St. Hippolyt: From here you can see 20 towns and around 40 castles, fortresses and ruins. There is a comfortable walking trail leading from Völlan to the little church.

Tucked away on a quiet side street in Merano lies an unexpected architectural treasure: the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. With its distinctive onion dome and traditional interior, it offers a rare glimpse into Russian cultural and religious life – unique in South Tyrol and found only here in Merano.
In the late 19th century, the spa town on the Passer River became a popular destination for affluent Russians escaping the severe climate of their homeland. Thanks to the generous legacy of Moscow native Nadezhda Ivanovna Borodina – for whom the adjacent memorial is named – the church was built in 1897 to plans by Merano architect Tobias Brenner.
Inside, visitors are greeted by arched windows, glowing icons, and an atmosphere of quiet reverence. Just next door, the Borodina Memorial houses a rich collection of books, periodicals, and photographs that chronicle the life of Merano’s Russian community.
Architecture and Historical Context:
This chapel is a fine example of 19th-century Russian Orthodox architecture adapted to the Alpine setting. The onion dome and round-arched windows reflect traditional stylistic features, while the interior exudes a spiritual calm. Built at a time when Merano attracted Russian aristocrats and intellectuals, the church continues to serve as a spiritual and cultural focal point for the local Orthodox community.
Nadezhda Borodina Memorial:
Next to the church, the memorial houses over 1,300 books, magazines, liturgical texts, and historical documents, making it a valuable archive of Russian cultural heritage. Among the collection are also handcrafted toys from the Pescatori-Bragaglia collection in Verona, providing an intimate window into everyday life of the time.
The church was officially transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church in 2017, reaffirming its enduring significance for Orthodox Christians in Merano and beyond.

Small church with three apses in Romanesque style, with a cycle of frescoes dating back to 1215. Restored in 1969 and 1982.

Traces of the Middle Ages are omnipresent throughout South Tyrol. Among many fortresses, castles and mansions, important monasteries and thousands of churches and chapels there are also impressive historic examples of the early and high Romanesque period.

In Lana, that alone boasts more than 30 monasteries and chapels, you can find architectural and artistic traces from before 1000 AD. One highlight, among many others, is the cycle of frescoes in early Romanesque style that can be seen in the three apses church of St. Margareth's.

Stories date St. Margareth's back to the end of the 10th century and it is said that the small church with its three apses was a gift of Theophano, the Byzantine wife of Emperor Otto II. The only remains from the original Romanesque building that can still be seen today are the round apses with their paintings from 1215. Like in the church of St. Kastelaz the bases depict bestiaries.

More detailed information and map of the cultural site are available in the tourist office Lana and surroundings and on www.stiegenzumhimmel.it . Discover our virtual tour >

The parish church at Lana was built on the sites of a much older Romanesque church and consecrated in 1492. Of particular interest ist the Gothic altar by Hans Schnatterpeck. It has carved figures, some in life size; the altar reaches a height of 14.10 m; it is the largest Gothic altar in the whole Alpine area.

The parish church of Niederlana is among the most beautiful examples of South Tyrolean Late Gothic art. Its magnificent winged altar by Hans Schnatterpeck is known far beyond the borders of the country.

The Schnatterpeck altar is 14 m high and 7 m wide and is thus considered to be the largest winged altar in the Alps. It is carved from chestnut wood and elaborately gilded. The altarpiece was created at the beginning of the 16th century over a period of 8 years by the Swabian sculptor Hans Schnatterpeck and his journeyman. The altar was paid for by the citizens of Lana (approx. 800 people) themselves. Schnatterpeck received 1,600 Rhenish Gulden (i.e. the value of 3 farms) and 8 cartloads of wine.

The carved representation of biblical content contains a rare depiction of the Throne of Grace (God the Father holding the body of Christ on his lap), flanked by the life-sized statues of the apostles Peter and Paul. After carving, the altar was painted by Schnatterpeck and his journeyman and finally decorated with ducat gold. The altar was raised and consecrated around 1511 in the parish church of Niederlana and has never been removed, not even during the World Wars.

Holy Mass:
Friday at 19.00 in german language
Sunday at 10.00 in german language

Information and registration for groups:
Mrs Gruber Ida - Mobile +39 333 434 259 6

The church is only open during guided tours!

During the fasting period, the altar remains closed!

The Church of St. John Nepomuk was built in the 17th century. It carries trains both the Renaissance and the Baroque and contains precious altars, statues and votive paintings, which recall the once flourishing pilgrimage here.

Mentioned for the first time in 1326 in a charter of the "Allerengelberg Carthusian Monastery" in the Val Senales/Schnalstal, which granted the monks "the right to fish from St. Helena's Church at the Tel/Töll up to Eyrs (Val Venosta Valley)." The walled-up Romanesque windows on the south side, as well as the patronage "St. Helena with the Cross," suggest an older age! The current form, an almost square structure with a straight-ending chancel with polygonal vaulting, definitely originated in the 14th century. The barrel-vaulted, straight-ending chancel and the small tower with a square helmet date from a later time. Remarkable is the panel painting on the north wall (15th century), the crucifix (16th century) and the statues of the "Sorrowful," "St. John," and "St. Helena" (17th century), the neo-Gothic altars from the 18th century, dedicated to "St. John of Nepomuk" and "St. John," and placed instead of the former Gothic high altar. From the fresco on the southern exterior wall, only a little of St. Christopher is still visible, and the niche of St. Helena is now empty.

Adjacent is the "Töllmesnerhof," which was also used as a schoolhouse until 1991.
In 1993, on the hundredth anniversary of Peter Mitterhofer's death, the first Typewriter Museum was opened in the former school rooms, thanks to the private collection provided by Kurt Ryba.


Visiting the church is only possible by telephone reservation (see contact).

Churches that are dedicated to St. Peter are usually very old churches. For this reason it comes as no surprise that a Church of St. Peter was mentioned in the parish archive as long ago as 1305. The church of St. Peter in Mitterlana was built in its present form in 1680.

The church features elements of the Renaissance and Baroque periods in both its structure and elaborate furnishings. Alterations, renovations and additions took place between 1770 and 1776, in 1836, 1860, 1901/02 and in 1986.

The St. Proculus Church was probably built at the end of the 8th century to honor its patron saint, St. Proculus, Bishop of Verona. He is also venerated as the patron saint of animals and water. The murals inside the church are among the earliest examples of pre-Romanesque art in the Alpine region. One of the most famous depictions is 'The Saint on the Swing,' located on the south wall, which, according to legend, portrays his escape over the city walls of Verona. In addition, there are many other remarkable frescoes to discover within the church. The Proculus Museum offers in-depth information about the history of both the church and the village of Naturno.

The Church of the Holy Cross Heilig Kreuz Kirche in Mitterlana is the central church in Lana and dates from the 20th century. The church was built during the term of office of the Dean, Rev. Alfred Delucca OT in the politically and economically difficult years between 1938 and 1943. The building was completed in 1950 and inaugurated during the Feast of Christ the King by Suffragan Bishop Oreste Rauzi of Trento.

The spherical roof of the tower is colloquially known as the Lana Apple by the local people. What is today's main parish church in Lana was built between 1938 and 1950 following plans by the famous Stuttgart church-builder, Otto Lindner, in the style of an ancient Roman basilica.

Holy Mass:
Saturday at 18.00 (in summer at 19.30) in german language
Sunday at 07.00 Uhr and 09.00 in german language

This small church near Völlan was built in 1705 by the Barons von Hausmann, who had a summer residence here.

The Church of St. Oswald in Pawigl near Lana was built in the Middle Ages. The nave walls of the Church of St. Vigilius date from this time, which once marked the most northerly point of the diocese of Trento, and which was painted in the second half of the 14th century with important early Gothic frescoes that are still well preserved today. It was built in the 13th century and extensively renovated in 1876.

Holy Mass:
Sunday at 8.30 in german language

St Anne's Church is part of the St Anne's building complex. From the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, St Anne's served as the residence of the priests of the Teutonic Order.
The St Anne's building complex was built in the first half of the 15th century.
The building was grouped around two Romanesque towers, which formed the original building stock. The northern tower served as living quarters, while the church was built into the southern tower. It is crowned with a ridge turret set on corbels with a high pointed roof. A heavily yellowed inscription on the west front under the ridge turret indicates the year 1458 as the possible date of construction or consecration.
The Gothic style began in France in the 13th century, in Tyrol it only began in the 14th century. The building falls into the High Gothic period.

At the parish church St. Martin in Hofern the longhouse walls are romanic, the vaults, the choir and the tower were built in the year 1473. At the inside there is a sidepiece altar which dates bach to the year 1520. Church is locked, information about the key at the tourist office in Kiens/Chienes.

The Parish Church of Saints Ingenuin & Albuin in Taisten is one of the most important sacred buildings in the Puster Valley. First consecrated around 1150, it was rebuilt in Gothic style in 1493 and redesigned in Baroque style in 1770 with frescoes by Franz Anton Zeiller. The Erasmus Chapel houses noble tombs and a Marian painting by Michael Pacher, while the St. James Chapel features Passion scenes by Simon of Taisten.

The church was built in the 17th century by Bartlmä von Schöpfer zu Klarenbrunn, the customs official to Archduke Ferdinand on the Gampen and court lawyer in Marling. The altar also dates from the 17th century.

The Parish Church of St. Martin in Gsiesertal Valley was first mentioned in 1425, though its origins likely date back much earlier. Rebuilt in Baroque style in 1778, it features frescoes by Johann Mitterwurzer depicting scenes from St. Martin’s life. Gothic elements, including tower windows and frescoes by Simon of Taisten, remain visible. Further artworks by Kluibenschedl, Dusi, and Nißl enrich the interior.

The St. Bartholomew Church of Nafen was mentioned in 1307 for the first time and the building in late Gothic style was built in 1489. The frescoes inside the church date back to the 15th to 17th century. The winged altarpiece from the 16th century is exceptional. Because of the illustration of the “Holy Face” at the back of the altar, the church was a pilgrimage site for dental patients for a long time.

Church from the 13th century. Remnants of mural from the 14th century on the facade. Remains of a wooden church from the time around 800 AD, the only one south of the Alps. Only open during masses.

The church was consecrated in 1433. Valuable frescoes from the 15th century; one of the frescoes shows Mayenburg Castle in its original form.

Holy Mass:
Sunday at 7.00 and 9.00 in german language

This Gothic church with high-quality furnishings from the Baroque period was first mentioned in the records in 1306. After a successful restoration (1991-1993), a Romanesque apse (dating from 1100) with paintings was uncovered during the excavations. Privately owned.

According to a 6 m-long inscription preserved in the presbytery, this simple, rectangular church with round apse in the east, was consecrated on 12 May 1142. It was painted around 1210 with outstanding and historically important Romanesque frescoes, which, among other things, show the planned sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham against a mountain backdrop. After the incorporation of the tower in around 1380, the church was decorated with Gothic paintings inside and also externally on the south wall. A wooden statue of St. James from 1520 which was revamped in 1610, and two Baroque altars on the west wall, can also be seen. Below the church there is a shrine with simple but expressive pictures from the period around 1440.

The old church of Gargazon was first mentioned in 1337. The nave walls date from this period, the present form came into being in the 17th century. The fresco on the facade dates from the 14th century, the stucco marble altar from the 19th century. The church is not open to visitors.

The Church of San Vigilio, located at 1,780 m above sea level, was first mentioned in the historical record way back in 1278. Masses are held on religious holidays. Contact the Lana Tourist Office for more information. 

The Mount Vigiljoch is a place with almost magical powers, proven not only by its healing mineral springs at Bärenbad. Just like on St. Hypolyt, the natural energy of this place has been felt throughout the ages. Prehistoric places of worship were located here, as the numerous finds of hand-crafted flint stones and hollowed-out bowls made from stone dating from the Bronze Age prove.

St.Vigilius church, built at an altitude of 1793 m above sea level, was most likely constructed on the site of a prehistoric heathen place of worship. Its location makes this church one of the 'highest' in Tyrol.

The church
First documented in the 12th century, the little church of St. Vigilius has always been called 'weather church' by the locals, as it has always been a place of pilgrimage to ask God's protection against bad weather, rain, hail, thunder and lightning. The walls of the long house date back to early Romanesque times. The Gothic choir with its beautiful ribbed vault and the bell tower were added later. Particularly interesting is the high quality fresco cycle in the interior of the church, which dates back to the 14th century, and depicts the twelve apostles and a Calvary group.

Wetterhügel Hill and the church above the Jocher peak have not lost any of their magical appeal through the ages.

Holy Mass

9 June at 9.30 p.m. Sacred Heart Sunday Lighting of the bonfire with devotion to the Sacred Heart - near St. Vigilius Church
26 June at 9.00 a.m. Patrocinium cloister start cable car mountain station, church service, gospels and weather blessing
 In July to the end of August on Sundays at 11.00 a.m. in german language
15 August at 11.00 a.m. Church service with blessing of herbs
6 October at 11.00 a.m. Harvest festival
3 November at 11.00 a.m. Hubertus celebration
25 December at 5.30 pm Christmas mass

There is a special cable car timetable for Sacred Heart Sunday and 25 December. Last journey at 23.30 hrs

The Ascension Church in Ehrenburg was first built in the year 1370. Today's building was built in the baroque period between 1698 and 1701. The mercy-painting was painted by I. A. Mölck (1755). In the crypt, there is an old statue of the Virgin Mary and other interesting paintings.
The church stands on the church hill, above the Castle Ehrenburg.

The St. Benedikt church of Mals was ercted in the 8th century A.D. Its Carolingian frescoes are among the earliest murals in central Europe. Originally, St. Benedict's did not have a tower; this was probably only built in the 12th century and therefore appears somewhat oversized. 
Without doubt, however, the two portraits of the founders are the most interesting. They show the Bishop of Chur and a Franconian landlord in traditional costume. This portrait is unique in Europe, as there is no comparable representation anywhere else. 

Opening hours winter 06.12.2025 - 04.04.2026:
Open: Saturday at 10:00 am
Price: € 1.80 per person
Registration not required 

Opening hours summer 21.04.2025 - 31.10.2025:
Open to the public: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday from 10:00 - 11:30 am
Guided tours: Monday, Wednesday at 14:00, Friday at 10:00 (only in German language)
Prices: € 1.80 per person; with guided tour € 3.00 per person
Registration not required 

Guided tours only in German or Italian language (Info: +39 0473 831190)

The church is closed on Sundays and public holidays.

St. George’s Church in Taisten stands out for its serene atmosphere and balanced design. With an almost square layout and semicircular apse, it combines Romanesque solidity with Gothic elegance. The lower walls date from the Romanesque period, while the ribbed vault above was added in 1498. The apse features a depiction of the Trinity in a rainbow mandorla – a rare and powerful symbol of faith.

The church of Saint George in St. Georgen originates from the 12th and 13th Centuries. This original round church was previously the fortress chapel of St. Georgen or Alt-Schenna. When lightning struck in 1591 and nearly half of the church was destroyed, the central part of the church was strengthened with an additional pillar. The frescoes from the 14th Century are well restored and represent the martyrdom of Saint George, the Day of Judgement and the legend about Saint Nicolas. The Gothic wing altar shows Saint George on a horse, fighting with the dragon. It is also worth mentioning that there is a rare illustration of Saint Kummernus from the 17th Century. Legend has it that she was a king’s daughter from the Iberian peninsula. She had taken a vow to stay a virgin. However, her father, the king, wanted her to marry. In this difficult situation, she prayed she would grow a beard, so to disguise her face. Her prayer was answered, but her father got her thrown into the dungeon and nailed to a cross. The only remain from the former St. Georgen fortress is the keep, which is known today as the ’Uhlentower’.