Pfarrkirche hl. Georg, Sankt Georgen ob Murau

The parish church of St Georgen ob Murau stands on a slope above the village in the Murtal valley of Styria. Built in the late 15th century under Emperor Frederick III, it replaced an earlier church consecrated in 1188. The church is protected as a listed monument and belongs to the Diocese of Graz-Seckau. The church’s architecture shows late Gothic style. A tall three-storey tower with Gothic double bell openings and a pointed spire rises at the south corner of the choir. Inside, a three-aisled hall has star vaults with round and shield-shaped keystones, resting on half-round shafts with octagonal bases. Frescoes on the south wall depict the Agony in the Garden and Saint George from the late 1400s, attributed to the Master of Schöder. The neogothic high altar was made by Simon Dauner-Balzle, while a Gothic winged altar from 1524 shows carved figures of the Virgin Mary, Catherine and Barbara. Beside the church stands a Romanesque ossuary from the late 12th century, with a semicircular apse and wall paintings by August Raidl from 1957. The interior vaulting, with its twisted spring rafter ribs in the choir, and the raised floor level in the eastern nave bay, add to the building’s spatial complexity. Small figure niches with canopies line the choir walls, each holding sculpted figures.