Wallfahrtskirche Maria Schnee in Kötschach-Mauthen

The Filialkirche Maria Schnee stands above Mauthen on a wooded slope beside the Plöckenpass road in Kötschach-Mauthen, Carinthia. A narrow footpath winds up through the trees, pausing at five Stations of the Cross before reaching the churchyard. The building itself has carried a national monument listing since the 19th century. Built between 1710 and 1712, the church was enlarged in 1843 and still preserves its four-bay nave, a narrower choir with five-sided apse, and a tall timber lantern tower capped by an onion dome. In 1844 Christoph Brandstätter the Younger painted scenes from the life of the Virgin on the flat ceiling of the nave. The high altar of 1715 holds a mid-18th-century copy of the Salus populi Romani icon from Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore, flanked by statues of Saints Francis and Anthony. Inside, the side altars date from about 1700 and carry baroque panels showing the death of Joseph and Saint Anne with the child Mary. The walls display a collection of votive pictures painted between 1767 and 1863, each recording local petitions and thanks. Outside, the surrounding forest and distant mountain ridges frame the church, making the short climb worthwhile.