Church of St. Margaret

The parish church of St Margaret stands in the centre of Marchegg, a town in the Marchfeld region of Lower Austria. Built in the 13th century, it occupies the site chosen by King Ottokar II of Bohemia and Bishop Bruno of Olomouc after the Battle of Kressenbrunn. The church was planned as a large three-aisled cathedral but only the choir and foundations were completed before work stopped. The building has survived sieges, fires and earthquakes over seven centuries. The high choir with its steep roof and tall Gothic windows dominates the exterior. Inside, the late-medieval vaulting in the choir carries traces of frescoes uncovered in 1960. The late-baroque nave, added in the 1780s, leads to a 19th-century west tower whose iron cross still gleams above the town. Visitors enter through the tower porch and find a low nave with a flat ceiling and a three-part gallery. A wide pointed arch opens into the tall choir, its ribs springing from clustered shafts with carved capitals. The baroque high altar of 1660 rises above the original stone mensa, its gilded woodwork filling the eastern bay. The surrounding streets preserve the medieval street grid laid out by Bishop Bruno in 1260.