The Pilgrimage Church of Maria Saal
St. Mary's Church in Maria Saal (Gemeinde Maria Saal), sits high on a hill some ten kilometers north of Klagenfurt and is one of the leading places of pilgrimage in Carinthia. It was here in 750 AD that Bishop Modestus consecrated a church dedicated to the Virgin, from which the surrounding area was Christianized. The current twin-towered structure was built in Gothic style in the first half of the 15th century and later remodeled during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Highlights include a number of fine old gravestones, the 16th-century Keutschach Epitaph depicting the Coronation of Our Lady, and a 3rd-century Roman stone relief of a post wagon. Other features are the Late Gothic Lantern of the Dead and the finely proportioned octagonal Romanesque charnel house, surrounded by a frescoed arcade from the early 1500s. Of interest inside are the panels above the center aisle of the Tree of Jesse, painted in 1490 and depicting the genealogy of Christ. While in the area, visit the nearby ancient Carinthian Ducal Throne (Kärtner Herzogstuhl), the double throne on which the Dukes of Carinthia once sat.
Address: Am Platzl 7, 9063 Maria Saal