Churches and Monasteries

In the "Holy Land of Tyrol" there are countless churches, chapels, wayside shrines and of course also monasteries and convents. The sacred buildings and the artworks, altars and frescoes contained therein not only testify to the piety of the population, but also to a great and extremely impressive cultural wealth. Many sacred places date back to much older, pre-Christian sanctuaries and thus conceal a long and mysterious history.

Tyrol was christianized quite early, although especially in the remote side valleys, much "heathen" customs persisted for a long time. Thus, churches and monasteries were built early on, and many foundations date back to the 6th or 7th century. One of the oldest churches in South Tyrol is the ruin of St. Peter near Kaltern. It resembles in its construction historical buildings in Aquileia and Milan and is said to have been built as early as the time of St. Vigilius in the 4th century.

The area of Tyrol was almost always faithfully Catholic and remained largely unaffected by the turmoil of the religious wars at the beginning of the modern era. The wave of Baroque reformation of the Counter-Reformation hardly affected South Tyrol, so that we find an exceptionally large number of medieval buildings here practically in their "original" state.

Some of these are real art historical jewels, such as the Prokulus church in Naturns, which dates back to the 7th century and is adorned with unique, wonderful frescoes. Other examples of Romanesque architecture are the Nikolauskirche in Matrei, St. Benedikt in Mals or the collegiate church of Innichen. There are also several highly interesting churches from the Gothic period, such as the Liebfrauenkirche in Schwaz, the court church in Innsbruck, the hospital church in Vipiteno, the Dominican monastery in Bolzano, and of course the magnificent cathedral of Bolzano.

The monasteries and convents are also significant, such as those in Stams, Wilten, Marienberg, Säben or Neustift, as well as the episcopal sees in Innsbruck and Brixen.

Our vacation tip: Why not take a vacation in a monastery? Many monasteries already offer this possibility, to spend restful, fulfilling, and perhaps even meaningful vacation days in the quiet and secluded atmosphere of the monastery walls.