Cemetery Chapel

The Friedhofskapelle zur Schmerzhaften Mutter stands beside the parish church of St Ägydius in Semriach, a village in the hills of Styria. Built in 1375, it was once dedicated to the Archangel Michael before becoming the Chapel of the Sorrowful Mother in 1884. The crypt below served as a charnel house until 1968, and the building was restored in 1963. Inside, the rectangular nave has two bays vaulted around 1650, while the apse and circular crypt remain from the medieval structure. A Michaelite painting from the mid-17th century hangs on the wall, alongside a 1719 Vesperbild and a crucifix carved in 1510. The iron door grilles bear the date 1884. Visitors step into a quiet space of whitewashed walls and low, arched windows. The crypt’s circular chamber lies beneath the altar, its stone floor worn by centuries of footsteps. Outside, the chapel overlooks the old cemetery and the spire of the parish church, framed by the rolling countryside of northern Styria.