Pfarrkirche Pillichsdorf

The Roman Catholic parish church of Pillichsdorf stands at the southern edge of the village in Lower Austria. Built on the site of an earlier church, it was once surrounded by a cemetery. The building carries protected status under Austrian heritage law. The church’s history stretches back to around 1050 when the parish was founded. For centuries it served as the seat of a large deanery under Passau diocese, with control over surrounding villages. The present structure combines parts from the 13th, 15th and 16th centuries, showing Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque influences. Its 45-metre tower, completed in 1513, dominates the skyline. Inside, the four-bay nave has a central barrel vault with decorative rings. Gothic ribbed vaults cover the choir, which ends in a five-sided apse. Side chapels contain a late-15th-century crucifixion fresco and a 1744 relief of St John Nepomuk’s martyrdom. The high altar, dating from 1761–62, is a grand Baroque frame with sculpted figures.