Leprosenhauskapelle Kaltenhausen

The late-Gothic chapel of St Martin stands beside the main road in Kaltenhausen, a district of Hallein on Salzburg’s southern edge. Its nave sits well below road level, reached by a short flight of steps that drop into the hillside. The building is small, with a steep shingled roof and a tiny bell turret at the west end. Inside, the two-bay nave is covered by a late-Gothic star vault on round columns with carved capitals. The five-sided choir holds a pointed window and traces of 15th-century frescoes, including a red-chalk drawing of St Wolfgang. Fragments of paint from the 17th century show scenes from the life of Christ, copied from Matthaeus Merian’s 1625 Bible. A date of 1447 survives on the north wall, and the ribs of the vault were once painted black and white. The chapel’s most important work, a winged altarpiece of about 1440, now belongs to the Salzburg Museum. Its central panel depicts the Adoration of the Magi, while the wings show Saints Martin and John the Baptist. An octagonal 15th-century stoup stands at the entrance. The whole interior is quiet and cool, lit only by the small pointed windows.