Pfarrkirche Berg im Drautal

The parish church of Berg im Drautal stands on a hill above the village in Carinthia. It is surrounded by a cemetery and a charnel house, with a covered staircase rising from the south-east. The church is dedicated to the Nativity of Mary and belongs to a parish that also includes the filial church of St Athanasius.

The church dates from 1267 and was founded by the Archbishop of Salzburg. It was once a large parish with rich endowments and served as a mensal parish for the Salzburg cathedral chapter. In the late 15th century it was converted into a fortified church, with changes to the nave and tower while the choir kept its late-Romanesque form.

Inside, a three-bay nave rises higher than the choir and is covered by a late-Gothic star-ribbed vault. The walls show Romanesque and Gothic features, including lancet windows, portals and fresco fragments from the 13th to 15th centuries. The high altar contains a 15th-century stone Madonna and baroque side figures. The chancel vault bears 14th-century murals of Christ’s childhood and Passion, while the apse shows a 14th-century Pantokrator surrounded by apostles. The charnel house beside the church has a two-storey Romanesque core and 15th-century frescoes of the Last Judgment and apostles.