Pfarrkirche Seetal

The parish church of Seetal stands 1 236 metres above sea level in the village of Seetal, part of the market town of Tamsweg in the Lungau region of Salzburg. It is dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and belongs to the Tamsweg deanery in the Archdiocese of Salzburg. The church sits beside the Seetaler See and near the ruins of Klausegg Castle. A procession on the Sunday closest to Midsummer Day celebrates the church’s patronal festival. The building has been listed as a protected monument since the 20th century. The church first appears in records in 1388, though excavations in 1998 showed parts of the structure date from the 11th or 12th century. In the 18th century the church was remodelled in the Baroque style and a sacristy was added in 1799. A major restoration took place between 1998 and 2002. The west tower, originally built in the 13th century, was given its present curved tent roof in 1715. Inside, the single-nave hall has flat-arched windows on the north and south sides and a slightly lower choir with a fan vault. The high altar, carved around 1700, shows the baptism of Christ. Figures of Saints Sebastian and Roch flank the altar, recalling the 1713 plague in Seetal. The side altars, richly decorated in the Lungau acanthus-Baroque style, were made by Gregor Sapser, a Tamsweg joiner. Late-Gothic wall paintings uncovered in 1998 depict Christ as Judge and the gates of Heaven guarded by Saint Peter. Behind the high altar are scenes of the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi.