Pfarrkirche Zienitzen

The parish church of Zienitzen stands on a hill above the Metnitz river in the Metnitztal valley, near Friesach in Carinthia. It is dedicated to Saint George and has served as a parish since 1404, though it was once a branch of Grades. The church’s patron rights shifted from Metnitz to the Bishop of Gurk in the late 16th century, and it was briefly united with St Salvator before regaining independence in 1814. The building is a Gothic structure from the 14th and 15th centuries, with a flat-roofed nave and a vaulted choir featuring a five-sided apse and stepped buttresses. Below the choir lies a vaulted ossuary, and the church has both a Gothic and a Baroque sacristy. The west tower, topped with a pointed gable roof, contains a bell cast in 1476 by Merth of Friesach. Inside, fragments of early 15th-century wall paintings depict the Coronation of the Virgin, saints, and the Holy Trinity, while the choir window’s stained glass from the mid-1300s shows Christ’s Ascension and Resurrection. The high altar, adorned with carved portals, features a painting of Saint George flanked by statues of other saints. The side altars from 1686 hold figures of the Madonna and Child, Saint Joseph, and images of Saints Sebastian and Martin. Baroque figures of local saints stand among the church’s furnishings, and a large crucifix hangs in the nave. The church’s art and architecture reflect centuries of craftsmanship, from Gothic vaulting to later Baroque embellishments.