Pfarrkirche Sittendorf

The Catholic parish church of St John the Baptist stands on rising ground at the south-western edge of Sittendorf, a small village in the Wienerwald hills of Lower Austria. The church is dedicated to the saint and belongs to Heiligenkreuz Abbey, which has held the parish since the 16th century. The building and the former churchyard are protected monuments, recognised for their historical and architectural importance. The church’s story begins in 1381, when it was first mentioned in records. Between 1579 and 1623 it served a Protestant congregation during a dispute between local nobles and the abbey. A fire in 1683 damaged the structure, and in 1783 it became the parish church. Around 1700 the nave was extended westward and the tower moved to what had been the east apse, giving the church its present outward-facing west front. Inside, the nave has a plain wooden ceiling while the semicircular apse and the lower part of the tower are vaulted. A modern altar faces a large suspended crucifix, and the apse walls hold three 18th-century statues of saints. The sacristy ceiling is decorated with 18th-century stucco, and the weekday chapel occupies the upper floor. Outside, the round-arched windows and the tower’s Romanesque stonework recall the building’s long history.