Pfarrkirche Eisenkappel

The Roman Catholic parish church of St Michael stands in the centre of Eisenkappel-Vellach, a village in the Jauntal valley of southern Carinthia. The church is dedicated to the archangel Michael and belongs to the deanery of Eberndorf within the diocese of Gurk. The building has been listed as a protected monument since the 20th century.

First mentioned between 1050 and 1065, the church became a parish either in 1106 or in the 13th century. The choir dates from the 14th century, while the nave was rebuilt after Ottoman raids in 1473 as a three-aisled hall with three bays. A baroque plague chapel with a cross-ribbed vault stands northeast of the nave. The tower on the southwest corner, older than the nave, carries a 19th-century spire. The west gallery and south porch both feature net-ribbed vaults, and the main portal is late Gothic.

Inside, the nave is covered by stellar ribbed vaults resting on four clustered piers. The high altar from the mid-18th century carries statues of Saints Michael, Peter and Paul, while a side altar holds a late-17th-century Pietà and figures of the plague saints Sebastian and Roch. The choir contains 18th-century console figures of Saints Martin, Catherine, Barbara and George. The sacristy displays a 16th-century statue of Saint Leonard and 19th-century Stations of the Cross. The church also preserves several baroque grave slabs and a 1972 organ by Rudolf Novak.