Pfarrkirche in Pustritz

The parish church of Pustritz stands on a ridge above the southern slopes of the Saualpe in the village of Pustritz, part of Griffen in Carinthia. First mentioned in 1196, it is dedicated to the Visitation of Mary and is surrounded by a former defensive wall, parts of which were removed in 1856. The church’s history is written in its fabric, from Romanesque remains in the nave to a late-Gothic rebuilding between 1430 and 1500. The building’s most striking feature is the west tower with its pyramidal roof and Gothic sound-openings, one of which bears the date 1611 and the founder’s name, Georg Fiering. Inside, the nave rests on stepped buttresses marked 1430, while the two-bay choir is covered by a net-vault whose ribs intersect in star patterns. Late-Gothic wall paintings of the Agony in the Garden and the Betrayal by Judas date from 1480, and the ceiling frescos of the Assumption of Mary and the Transfiguration were painted in 1855 by Primus Haberl. The high altar, commissioned by Abbot Hieronymus Marchstaller and completed under Abbot Philipp Rottenhäusler, centres on a late-Gothic Madonna crowned and robed in Baroque style. A baroque chapel was added to the north side of the nave in the late 17th century, while the sacristy on the north side of the choir is still late-Gothic. The stone tabernacle in the choir, dated 1523, shows the Annunciation in relief, flanked by figures of Saints Andrew, Barbara, Peter and Paul, and Martin. The pulpit of the 18th century carries painted scenes of Saint Paul and the Sower, and a 17th-century crucifix group stands on a console. The churchyard wall, once defensive, now frames views across the valley below.