Maria Taferl Basilika 527-1
The church building was built from 1660 to 1710. Its construction was begun under the imperial architect Georg Gerstenbrand and the Italian Carlo Lurago. Its famous cupola was built by Jakob Prandtauer from 1708 to 1710. He also designed the current appearance of Melk Abbey. The Maria Taferl church is built in the baroque style with ample amounts of gold leaf and a frescoed ceiling. In the center of the high altar is the namesake Marian stature. The building's rear houses its crypt.
According to an inscription in the building's interior, the building of the church gave the local inhabitants new courage after the Plague, the Turkish Wars, and the Thirty Years' War had all taken their toll. It also supported the ideas of the Counter-Reformation in the heartland of the Catholic House of Habsburg. All this speaks to Maria Taferl as an important manifestation of the Catholic faith on the main traveling route of the Danube.
There are many traditional stories of angelic processions here, which come from the 17th century. The tradition of pilgrimage to Maria Taferl also dates back to that time. In 1760 alone, there were 700 pilgrimage processions and over 19,000 masses said there. The church is also a kind of information treasure chest about its pilgrims, their origins, and their number. Within it are the gifts of the pilgrims, who came on account of illness and were cured. Another reason for Maria Taferl's importance as a pilgrimage destination was the stone cross, a gift from the citizens of Freistadt for pilgrims who died on the journey. It is also evidence of the exhausting nature of pilgrimage in those days. The murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his family lived in the nearby Artstetten Castle and is known to have regularly attended mass at Maria Taferl.
Maria Taferl became a Basilica minor in 1947.
By 2010, the basilica's interior should have undergone a complete restoration. It will then celebrate a double jubilee: 350 years since the laying of its cornerstone in 1660, and 300 years since its completion in 1710. The interior's last restoration was around 50 ago; the exterior was restored in 1982, and in 1998, the domes of the two towers were re-covered.
Besides the basilica, in Maria Taferl there is also a monument for the Fallen of both World Wars. These men are honored annually at meeting of veteran's groups.
There is a folk belief that the water from the well at Maria Taferl can help with eye complaints. - Wikipedia
Maria Taferl Basilika 527-1
The church building was built from 1660 to 1710. Its construction was begun under the imperial architect Georg Gerstenbrand and the Italian Carlo Lurago. Its famous cupola was built by Jakob Prandtauer from 1708 to 1710. He also designed the current appearance of Melk Abbey. The Maria Taferl church is built in the baroque style with ample amounts of gold leaf and a frescoed ceiling. In the center of the high altar is the namesake Marian stature. The building's rear houses its crypt.
According to an inscription in the building's interior, the building of the church gave the local inhabitants new courage after the Plague, the Turkish Wars, and the Thirty Years' War had all taken their toll. It also supported the ideas of the Counter-Reformation in the heartland of the Catholic House of Habsburg. All this speaks to Maria Taferl as an important manifestation of the Catholic faith on the main traveling route of the Danube.
There are many traditional stories of angelic processions here, which come from the 17th century. The tradition of pilgrimage to Maria Taferl also dates back to that time. In 1760 alone, there were 700 pilgrimage processions and over 19,000 masses said there. The church is also a kind of information treasure chest about its pilgrims, their origins, and their number. Within it are the gifts of the pilgrims, who came on account of illness and were cured. Another reason for Maria Taferl's importance as a pilgrimage destination was the stone cross, a gift from the citizens of Freistadt for pilgrims who died on the journey. It is also evidence of the exhausting nature of pilgrimage in those days. The murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his family lived in the nearby Artstetten Castle and is known to have regularly attended mass at Maria Taferl.
Maria Taferl became a Basilica minor in 1947.
By 2010, the basilica's interior should have undergone a complete restoration. It will then celebrate a double jubilee: 350 years since the laying of its cornerstone in 1660, and 300 years since its completion in 1710. The interior's last restoration was around 50 ago; the exterior was restored in 1982, and in 1998, the domes of the two towers were re-covered.
Besides the basilica, in Maria Taferl there is also a monument for the Fallen of both World Wars. These men are honored annually at meeting of veteran's groups.
There is a folk belief that the water from the well at Maria Taferl can help with eye complaints. - Wikipedia