Luciakapelle

The Luciakapelle stands in Seckau, a market town in Styria, on the edge of what was once a hospital. Built around 1501 as part of an almshouse founded by Provost Johannes Dürnberger, the chapel served the sick and poor. The single-room building measures only 3.5 by 2.5 metres, yet its walls are entirely covered with late-Gothic frescoes. The chapel’s frescoes are the most important in Styria, painted in 1501 to show scenes of human suffering and Christian charity. The altar niche has a straight east wall instead of the usual polygonal apse, and the ribbed vault is decorated with symbols of the Evangelists and foliage. The frescoes include the suffering Saviour with angels, the Virgin and Child, Saint Martin, Saint Elisabeth, and Saint Lucia herself. Visitors find a small square room where every inch of wall space carries colour. The best-preserved figures are Saint Odilia and Saint Lucia on the north wall. A large hole in the south wall was cut later when the chapel became a prison, and a stove pipe was run through it. Despite damage and centuries of neglect, the frescoes were cleaned and stabilised between 1958 and 1960, revealing their original brilliance.