The Pilgrimage Church of the Assumption of Mary (), also called Maria Saal Cathedral (), is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church in the town of

Maria Saal Maria Saal () is a market town in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain (''Gosposvetsko polje''), the wide valley of the Glan River. The municipality includes ...

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

.''Dehio-Handbuch. Die Kunstdenkmäler Österreichs. Kärnten''. Anton Schroll, Wien 2001, , S. 512-519 Though not the see of a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

, the church building is a renowned monument of Late

Gothic architecture Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...

and one of Carinthia's most visited landmarks.

History

A first church dedicated to St. Mary was probably built on the site about 753 at the behest of the missionary bishop

Modestus Modestus was a Roman cognomen. It may refer to: * Julius Modestus (1st century BC), Roman freedman and grammarian * Marcus Mettius Modestus (procurator) (1st century AD), Roman governor of Egypt * Aufidius Modestus (1st century AD), Roman philol ...

, called the Apostle of

Carantania Carantania, also known as Carentania (, , in Old Slavic '), was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia. Since the middle of the ...

. One of the first parishes in the region, this

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

church became the initial point of

Christianisation Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

, therefore regarded the mother church of Carinthia assuming the title of 'cathedral' ('' Dom''). The community was vested with extensive properties by the Archbishops of Salzburg. From 945 the parish was under direct jurisdiction of the Salzburg archdiocese. When in 1072 a Carinthian bishop was appointed, he took his see at Gurk, and the role of a mother church passed to Gurk Cathedral erected from about 1140 onwards. Nevertheless, the church of Maria Saal remained important as the site, where the

Dukes of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia (; ; ) was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, and was the first newly created Imperial State after the original German stem duchies. Carin ...

traditionally obtained ecclesiastical blessings after their installation at the nearby Prince's Stone. The present-day church was built in a Late Gothic style between 1430 and 1459, then partly refurbished with a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

interior in the 17th century. The tradition that the bishop of Gurk is also dean of the Church of the Assumption of Mary in Maria Saal, has survived to this day.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assumption of Mary Cathedral, Church 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Austria Maria Saal Buildings and structures completed in 1459 Churches completed in the 1450s

History

See also

References