Pfarrkirche Unternalb

The Catholic parish church of Saint Lawrence stands at the south-eastern end of the village green in Unternalb, a hamlet within the town of Retz in Lower Austria. A former fortified church, it belongs to the Diocese of Vienna and is listed as a protected monument. The building is closely linked to Göttweig Abbey, which took charge of the parish in the 12th century. The church’s long history begins before 1083, when a local nobleman founded the parish. In the 14th century it was enlarged into a basilica, and a century later a defensive tower was added. Baroque builders extended the choir and widened the nave in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Leopold Kupelwieser painted the high-altar picture around 1830, and a bell cast in 1654 still rings today. Visitors approach across the village green to find a medieval basilica with later baroque facades. The broad nave leads to a wide, basket-arched choir. On the north side rises a massive four-stage tower with shot-slit windows and original iron grilles. Inside, the high altar shows a tabernacle wall and Kupelwieser’s Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence. Outside, a 1583 epitaph and a 1704 heraldic gravestone rest against the walls.