Dekanatskirche Mariä Geburt

The parish church of Our Lady’s Nativity stands in the market town of Altenmarkt im Pongau, a Salzach valley settlement at the foot of the Radstädter Tauern. Its oldest core may date from the ninth century, though the present rectangular nave was enlarged in the late 14th century and given a Baroque finish in the 18th. A striking Zwiebelturm replaced the medieval spire in 1764, and the entire exterior was renewed in the mid-1980s. The church’s interior reveals a seven-bay Gothic vault with a deep-set chancel arch that separates the older nave from later additions. Josef Widmoser’s vivid stained glass of 1954 fills the apse with scenes from Mary’s life, while the left window depicts Saint Elisabeth and the right Saint Rupert, the local patron. Clemens Holzmeister designed the modern high altar in 1972, and the marble communion rail still shows the flowing forms of the 1762 Baroque remodelling. Beside the church stands the octagonal Annakapelle, built in 1418 and linked by a two-storey passage after the 1526 fires. Its delicate star vault and painted tracery frieze were uncovered during the 1989–90 restoration, when the chapel was fitted as an Aussegnungshalle. The surrounding ensemble also includes the Dechanthof and its barn, completing a quiet precinct that preserves centuries of local worship.