Churches and monasteries

The Parish Church of Mary Assumption (Maria Himmelfahrt) in Tisens was first mentioned in 1194 when it was a Roman church. During the 16th Century it was restructured in Gothic style. The high altar was built in 1896. In 1986 the church was renovated. Artefacts worth seeing are the glass paintings from the Augsburg School (around 1520), the family crypts of the counts, the baptism stone with a wooden structure and the Heart of Jesus painting from 1796. Next to this Parish church you find the Saint Michael's Chapel from the 15th Century with late-Gothic frescoes and an "Ossarium" in the basement.

In the 8th century, there was probably a church at the place where the present church of St. Korbinian stands. The church was restored in the 12th century in the Romanesque style. At the old nave, a Gothic chancel was added in the 15th century, with reticulated vault and arched windows. In 1615/16, barrel vaulting was added, later extended in the mid-19th century also to the west. The south wall of the church is decorated with frescoes dating to the end of the 14th century.

Less than two years under construction, a new church was consecrated
by Bishop Ivo Muser on 27th August 2017, to coincide with St. Monika’s
Day. The new church follows a very simple layout. After literally crossing
through an oversized marble cross at the entrance, the first thing you see
is a coloured light falling on the altar through the dome. The new church is
well worth a visit.

The Parish Museum

The parish museum St. Michael was established in 1980 as the first of its kind in the Chapel of St. Michael which had been restored by the Provincial Monuments Office. It was created an exhibition space which was created in order to protect the works of art and to make them accessible to the public.

The exhibition comprises over 20 individual objects or groups of objects, including the winged altar of St. Peter am Bühel (year 1510), the altarpiece of St. Constantine (year 1519) and the former baroque high altarpiece from the parish church (Adoration of the Magi, Year 1742, a masterpiece of the painter Johann Jakob Delai from Bolzano). Furthermore the "Probst Nativity" which was created by the handicapped artist Augustin Alois Probst from Sterzing around 1805 - the so-called Kastengrippe. Worth seeing are the 42 miniature scenes with the entire history of salvation from the birth to the suffering the Passion and the Resurrection up to the Ascension of Christ, among others with more than 240 expressively carved wooden figures.

 

Archaeology Museum:

In the crypt of the St. Michael's Chapel an archeological collection was built, which can be visited during a guided tour. There are findings from the different epochs - from the Neolithic period to the early modern times - are exhibited, such as the crescent-shaped bronze fibula from the 6th/5th century B.C. In addition, there is also a fragment of a Roman gravestone and so much more to discover.

The St. Laurentius church (Gothic with Romanesque nave walls) stands at the heart of the village. It was built between 1286 and 1295 and extended in around 1400. The tower was not built until the 16th century and was not given secure enough foundations – so Feldthurns has its very own "leaning tower"!

The church in Lapago is first-mentioned in 1426.
Already in 1480 it was re-consecrated after reconstruction.
1812-1815 the master-builder Johann Priller from Vandoies has built the new church.

It's difficult to find such a beautiful church ensemble as in Vandoies elsewhere.

The earliest mentions date back to 1220 and 1249. In 1499 the church was set on fire after the Battle of the Calven and was rebuilt as a Gothic church in 1570/1580. Excavations brought to light surprising results in the form of a predecessor church from the 6th/7th and 8th centuries. The patrocinium, however, points to the 9th century. Furthermore, parts of frescoes from the time before the first mentioning of the church were found, which turned out to be picture decorations of the Romanesque predecessor church and are of excellent artistic quality.


Open only for guided tours in german language on request (+39 0473 831097).

The church dedicated to the Holy Mother Maria (1244) stands in the center of the village with its tower covered with fine, red tiles.

A House of worship was mentioned in Terento in 1362, a church must have been there long before this however. Bishop Hartmann from Bressanone consecrated an altar in 1162. A new long nave was constructed in 1683/84. The Parish Church was extended from 1848 to 1850 and re-designed in a late Romanic style. A comprehensive restoration took place in 1964. During the course of this restoration, the foundation walls of an almost square-shaped church room from Roman times were discovered. Preserved from the late-gothic building are the choir with its three-sided completion, and the rectangular block stone tower with pointed acoustic windows. The long nave was reconstructed in late Roman style at the middle of the 19th century. The barrel vault dates back to the late Roman reconstruction and is decorated with ceiling paintings by Christoph Brandstätter. The ceiling paintings were restored in 1896. The altars of the Parish Church show the transition from classicism to late-gothic. Adjacent to the Parish Church you can admire a late-gothic Holy Cross Chapel, which was consecrated in 1520. The chapel impresses with a polygonal choir and a stellar vault.

Visiting the town of Certosa/Karthaus is like a journey into the past. The town was built inside the walls of the Cloister of Certosa degli Angeli, founded in 1326 and reopened in 1782. The Via Crucis of the ancient cloister is especially interesting.

The local parish priest, Anton Martin Schenk, had the Santissima Trinità (Church of the Holy Trinity) built in the Velloi (Vellau) district in 1742. The church soon became too small for the growing population of the village and was extended by local peasants, completed between 1894 and 1895. Only then Velloi could accommodate its priest for the first time. The latest restoration of the small church was in 1975.

The parish church of Barbian is consecrated to St. Jacobs the Elder and was first mentioned in 1378. The shapes of the windows of the leaning tower are evidence to an even earlier time. Its octagonal top was added during the 15th Century. During this time, the church was renovated and once more consecrated in 1472. In 1874, the nave was re-designed and received in a new-roman form. The vestry, which serves as choir stalls, is the only part left, to represent the old gothic buildings. On the inside of the church, on the main altar, there is a copy of the famous crucifixion group by Wechselburg, as well as 12 glass windows representing the apostles, a rosette window just above the main entrance and several wooden sculptures from the 16th and 17th Centuries.

Open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Holy Mass: To Sunday 03/16/2014 at 10.00 clock, alternately at 8:00 clock (german) and Saturday at 19:30 clock (german).

The first testimony of this gothic construction is dated 1577. In 1789 a barrel vault ceiling decorated with rough frescoes was built. The modern-day choir was added when the Church was enlarged, after damages caused by an avalanche in 1817.

Lourdes chapel at Egna. The construction of the little Marian Chapel is attributed to the will of the parish priest, Johann Giuliani who, at the end of the 19th century, wanted it to complete the “Institute for the Protection of Children”, which he had founded. Inside the chapel, there is a reproduction of the grotto in Lourdes made of tufa rock from the Trodena Creek; the statues of the Madonna and Bernadette adorn the interior of the grotto. The ceiling is decorated with five medallions representing the four evangelists with their insignia and, at the center, the Annunciation. The chapel is still part of the foundation “Asilo infantile di Egna” (Egna kindergarten). In 2014, it was restored at the hands of a local restorer, Lucia Giacomozzi.

The chapel Saint Cosmas & Damian in Glen/Gleno was built in the 17th century. The architectural character is quite simple, but the chapel contains numerous artworks on the inside. One of the artworks is the votive picture marked with the year "1691." It may indicate the year of construction of the chapel.

The parish church was built around 1180 and the Romanesque church was consecrated in 1184. This was replaced around 1500 by a late Gothic building with a three-aisled nave and a single-aisled choir. This is indicated by the year 1498 carved on the lintel of the side portal.

The location of the church directly above the Rienzsch1ucht led to an unfortunate event in 1688. After the parish tower had already been severely damaged by lightning, particularly in 1687, part of the crumbling rock collapsed a year later, taking with it part of the cemetery adjacent to the church and, according to local tradition, the old presbytery. Soon afterwards, the damage was repaired by building a retaining wall at the demolition site so that it was possible to walk around the church again, and the cemetery was extended towards the castle. Between 1794 and 1795, the church was extended to the west and the Gothic ribs were removed. The removed vault ribs were restored in 1959.

The last restorations date back to 1983. The interior is largely neo-Gothic from around 1870, although some of the wooden sculptures on the high altar date back to Adam Baldauf (1616 -1618). The gravestones of various Wolkensteins, the lords of Line (14th century) and the caretaker Caspar von Gufidaun, the great opponent of Cardinal Nikolaus Cusanus, who died in 1458, remind us of the history and connection with Rodenegg Castle. The well-kept cemetery with its lawn and exemplary wrought iron crosses contains around 200 graves and a simple cemetery chapel dating from 1697 with the image of St. Michael with the scales of the soul.
In 2008, the entire belfry was thoroughly renovated and new sound shutters were fitted to the tower openings in 2013.

As you walk through the woody valley between Seis and St. Konstantin, all of a sudden the church tower of the St. Vigil chapel towers up before you. This unusual location for a House of God, first documented in the year 1260, is not only a matter of intrigue, but also the origin of countless myths and legends. The chapel was built on an old pagan cult site, during the course of Christianisation. One particular curiosity: At the beginning of spring, on the 21st of March, the shadow of the Schlern falls directly on the chapel for the last time until the 23rd of September, when it heralds the return of autumn.

The small church is dedicated to the holy Vigilius. Worth seeing are the altar from the early 16th century, as well as the figures and grotesque masks decorating the modillions.

A little further north of piazza Gries stands the old parish church of Gries located in the middle of an antique cemetery. It is a late Gothic building, dating back to the early 1400, and hosts two stunning treasures: the altar of Michael Pacher (1471-75) and the Romanesque wooden crucifix of 1200. The first one is undoubtedly a masterpiece of Gothic art of the wooden altars with casket and hatch remaining today, while the second one, which probably in relation to north French sculpture is believed to be of foreign origin, is considered of great relevance.

The church stands in an area which was inhabited ever since Roman times. It was called "Keller", or "Chellare" (cellar), and later named "Gries", or sand. Until 1908 the wine farm of Bishop of Frisinga in Baviera stood next to the church.

The church from St. Georgen is situated on a very historical plateau close to Versein. Numerous findings from the Bronze Age testify the prehistoric settlement of this beautiful place. The carved Gothic altar is ornamented by the statues of Saint Georg, Saint Oswald and Saint Leonhard.

A monument of the High Baroque, it is located at the eastern entrance of the old country road in the village center.

The church of Barbian was built in the 13th century consecrated to the apostle and patron Saint Jacob. Today the only remaining of the old church is he bell tower. The church was constructed in a Romanesque style and in the year 1472 it obtained Gothic elements. In 1874 – 1877 the Neo-Romanesque nave was added to the Gothic main body (today’s sacristy). The inclination of the campanile is attributed to the different grounding on which the tower was built. The half on the downhill side lies on the unstable soil of the Central Uplands and the other half on solid quartz-phillite-rocks. Ing. Fulvio Pisetta carried out a mechanical intervention in 1985 – 1988 to assure the stability of the church tower. Height: 37,00 metres Inclination: 1,56 metres

The church was consecrated in 1116 to St. Leonhard. Of interest are the neo-Gothic high altar, the baptismal font of Andreas Hofer in white marble and the precious mural above the sacristy door.

The family Kiniger promised to build a chapel in 2013 and in the same year it was inaugurated. The chapel is situated in the Waldheim, nearby the Hotel Willy.

Patronal feast: November 25th

The church had a late-Romanesque preceding building, which has now disappeared. The new construction dates back to the 15th century, the choir Fresco (Marientod), to about 1400. Agnes von Werdenberg, the widow of Henry of Rottenburg, donated the fresco to the side altar. The church was built by architects from Como, around 1517.

Source: Parrish office Kaltern

The neo-Gothic chapel of was founded in 1924 by Andreas Kuppelwieser in gratitude for the fact that he and his brothers had survived the First World War unscathed. His initials are immortalized at the base of the carved stall.

From the old church from 1332 only the lower part of the tower with its Roman round arch window still remain. The red tower with its imperial roof was built in 1739. The last redesign of the church’s interior during the second half of the 19th century gave the church its New-Roman touch. The artist Karl Hernrici painted an impressive ceiling fresco in 1772.

The mausoleum was built between 1860 and 1869 according to the plans of the Vienna architect professor Moritz Wappler, as a burial place for Archduke Johann of Austria and his family. The church is situated on an artificial terrace at the western edge of the church hill and is one of the earliest and without doubt the most successful sacred building in the Neo-Gothic style. The building was constructed of red sandstone and granite from the Ifinger region. In the underground crypt chapel with its heavy ribbed vaults, there is the marble sarcophagus of Archduke Johann and his wife.

In the 14th century, the Proveisers built the church "To Saint Nicholas with the bullets", the patron saint of mines. As copper and gold were mined earlier in this mountain area and many a squire later settled as a farmer in provis, the Romans Nonsberger also called the Proveisers "Knòperi".

In the 19th century, the old church was so dilapidated that it had to be completely rebuilt. From 1870 to 1876, under the curate Franz Xaver Mitterer, the parish church Proveis was built in neo-gothic style. Particularly impressive are the free-standing tower and the frescoes by Albrecht Steiner inside the church.

St. Jacob’s Church San Giacomo’s Church, dedicated to the patron saint of pilgrims and travellers, is traditionally known as the oldest church in Val Gardena: its origins date back to the 12th century. | It is located right above Ortisei, along the ancient path, “Troi Paian”. From Ortisei you can reach the idyllic , sunny hamlet comfortably by ski- or summer bus or by car. Here you are surrounded by nature and you can enjoy a breathtaking panoramic view. After a 15-minute walk (slightly uphill) you will arrive to the San Giacomo Church. Alternatively, you can start from Ortisei and take a slightly sloping trail (Path of Dialogue), which takes you to the San Giacomo Church in about an hour. Another beautiful circular walk connects S. Cristina (Plesdinaz) with the church. The current overall appearance is Gothic, and the inside is part Gothic and part Baroque. The church features remarkable frescoes (late 15th century) in the presbytery. Wall paintings from the 16th century, illustrating the legend of San Giacomo (St. James), decorate the area near the pulpit. The local wood-carving tradition is represented in the main altar. Around 1750 the Vinazer-Pescosta brothers decorated it with spiral columns, gilded images of ancient church leaders, apostles and angels. The current sculptures and artwork on the main altar are replicas made by local carvers. The originals are on display at the Val Gardena Museum in Ortisei.

GUIDED TOURS to the church weekly in Winter and Summer. Reservation and more details at the Tourist Office Ortisei.