parish church Maria Ponsee

The Catholic parish church of Mariae Geburt stands on a gentle rise above the village of Maria Ponsee in Zwentendorf on the Danube. Built as a Romanesque choir-quarter church in the 12th century, it was later enlarged in the 14th, 16th and 18th centuries. The church has been protected as a monument since the 20th century. Its long history includes a 1716–1721 Baroque expansion led by Jakob Prandtauer under Propst Wilhelm von Schmerling. The church was raised to an independent parish in 1783 after centuries as a filial church. The building shows layers from each period: Romanesque walls, Gothic vaults and Baroque ceilings. Inside, the nave mixes Romanesque and Baroque forms under a single roof. The high altar of 1720–1730 holds a 17th-century Madonna washed ashore on the Danube. Side altars from 1770 display late-Baroque carvings, and the pulpit is in Rococo style. The tower, begun in the 14th century, still serves as a sacristy.