Maria Pöllauberg

Maria Pöllauberg stands on the Sabbatberg, a spur of the Masenberg in the rolling hills of eastern Styria. The Roman Catholic parish and pilgrimage church of St Mary dominates the skyline above the village of Pöllauberg. Close by are the parish presbytery, the filial church of St Anne, a Calvary hill and the Bildstockweg lined with shrines. Together they form a single religious ensemble set in the shallow Pöllauberg basin. The church was begun after a donation in 1339 and enlarged in 1374 when a chaplaincy was founded. After a fire in 1674 the roof, tower and furnishings were renewed and in 1707 it became the parish church. Two restorations in the 20th century returned the exterior in 1955 and the interior in 1976. The building is a two-aisled hall church with a ribbed vault and a three-aisled polygonal choir. Inside, rich stonework includes consoles with high canopies, choir stalls with arcading and Evangelist symbols, and a sacrament niche with a wrought-iron door. The organ loft carries life-size figures of the four Evangelists and two prophets by Josef Anton Serenio. Three cartouche frescoes of Marian scenes were painted by Antonio Maderni in 1691. The ceiling of the sacristy shows the family tree of Mary by Matthias von Görz. Outside, the main portal bears a fresco of the adoration of the Virgin by Franz Rath from 1877.