She is famous above all for her unique frescoes, which also date back to the Carolingian period. Together with St. Prokulus in Naturns, St. Benedict is one of the most important architectural monuments of the Early Middle Ages in South Tyrol.
The church, a rectangular hall building, is in an unfavorable location and has been overbuilt several times. The masonry was always damp. Some scholars believe that the church was built over a Celtic sacred spring, but there is no evidence of this. Originally, St. Benedict also did not have a tower; this was probably only built in the 12th century and looks a bit oversized.
Inside the church, the simple rectangular hall at the altar wall has three niches with horseshoe arches carved into the masonry. These niches were decorated with stucco reliefs, of which only fragments remain, and are adorned with paintings, probably by Lombard painters, dating back to the early 9th century. In the left niche, St. Stephen is depicted, and in the right, Pope Gregory the Great, and in the middle, Christ with two angels. But the most interesting are undoubtedly the two donor portraits. They show the Bishop of Chur and a Frankish landowner in traditional dress. This portrait is unique in the whole of Europe, there is no comparable representation anywhere else!
Frescoes are also preserved on the north wall: Under one of the oldest meander bands in the Alpine region, we see two fragmentarily preserved rows of images. The upper one again shows Pope Gregory the Great as well as a cycle of Paul. In the lower image strip, scenes from the life of Saint Benedict are presumably depicted.
Formerly, the sanctuary was separated from the rest of the church space by columns. One of these columns is still in the church, the rest of this choir screen, which is a masterpiece of Lombard stone masonry, can be admired today in the Bozen City Museum. The church of St. Benedict can be visited all year round: from April to November 2011 Monday - Saturday from 10.00 - 11.30 am; from July 12 to August 25, 2011 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays also from 3.00 - 4.00 pm. In the winter months, the church is open every Friday at 10 am. Information about guided tours is available at the Mals Tourist Office.
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