Pfarrkirche Unsere Liebe Frau Mariä Himmelfahrt, Mariapfarr

The parish church of Mariapfarr stands in the centre of the village on gently sloping ground in Lungau, Salzburg. It is a Roman Catholic parish and pilgrimage church dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. The building carries the title of a minor basilica and is protected as a listed monument. The church’s history reaches back to 923, when the first church in the area was recorded. The present structure began as a Romanesque church in the 12th or 13th century around an earlier chapel. A major Gothic rebuilding followed in the 15th century, when pilgrimages grew to their greatest numbers. After a fire in 1854 destroyed roofs, bells and the organ loft, the church was restored by 1858. Recent work between 2014 and 2016 renewed the interior, reinstated the high altar to its pre-1947 appearance and restored late-Gothic altarpieces. Pope Francis raised the church to the status of a minor basilica in 2018. Inside, three naves provide seating for about 900 people. Frescos from the 13th and 14th centuries were uncovered in 1946. An organ with two manuals and 25 stops was installed in 1951. A five-voice bell peal cast in 1950 hangs in the tower. The church is linked to a museum displaying sacred objects, including a famous silver altar from 1443. A tablet showing the Adoration of the Magi is said to have inspired Joseph Mohr’s poem for the carol ‘Silent Night’.