Pfarrkirche hl. Martin, Grafenschlag

The Roman Catholic parish church of Grafenschlag stands on the west side of the market square in the small town of Grafenschlag in the Zwettl district of Lower Austria. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours and belongs to the Zwettl deanery of the Diocese of St Pölten. The church is protected as a listed monument. The building has a long history. A parish is thought to have existed here since the second half of the 12th century. The original structure was late Gothic, with the choir rebuilt in 1478 and dedicated to Saint Martin by 1490. After a fire in 1776 destroyed the church and tower, repairs followed, including a new bell chamber in 1778 and a pyramid roof in 1912. The church received an altar from the dissolved Dominican convent in Tulln in 1786 and an organ from the Nikolaus Chapel near Aggsbach Charterhouse. A major restoration between 1976 and 1977 added a new nave. The west tower has a medieval core topped by a bell chamber from 1776 and a pyramid roof from 1912. The new nave has a hipped roof and round-headed side windows, while the late Gothic choir has a three-sided closure, buttresses and two-light tracery windows. Inside, the high altar is a Baroque column retable moved from Tulln in 1786, topped by a late Gothic Madonna figure with a Baroque crown. The church also contains a 19th-century sacristy and a south porch with a late Gothic shouldered arch portal. The stained glass windows date from 1899 to 1955.