Pirna Attractions

The Late Gothic St Mary's Church (1466-79) in Pirna is one of the largest hall-churches in Upper Saxony, with unusual vaulting and fine ceiling paintings (1544-46) in line with the new Protestant faith. The church also has fine Baroque furnishings.

The Markt, with the Town Hall standing alone in the center, reflects the styles of five centuries. The Town Hall itself - originally a merchants' warehouse and assembly hall - has 15th C. work on the ground floor (much subsequent alteration), Gothic doorways, gables and windows, and a tower of 1718 with a mechanical clock (renovated 1612).

In the Markt are several burghers' houses with handsome arched doorways, arcaded courtyards and oriels: e.g. No. 3 (c. 1500; doorway with ogee arch, five-fold canopy and bench recesses) and No. 7, the so-called Canalettohaus, a Renaissance building of 1520. The Marienhaus (No. 20), originally the Electoral Mint (1621-22), with a figure of the Virgin under the eaves on the second floor, is named after the Madonna (1514) at the corner of the building; Napoleon stayed in this house in 1813.

Other notable burghers' houses: Barbiergasse 10, Late Renaissance (1624), with a corner oriel; and Obere Burgstrasse 1, Late Renaissance (c. 1615), with a finely decorated oriel. Also of interest is a posting milestone of 1722.

Dohna, 8km/5mi west of Pirna, has the Late Gothic hall-church of St Mary, with a winged altar of 1518 and a richly decorated font.

The church of the former Dominican monastery (originally Gothic, c. 1300; much altered subsequently) in Pirna is a hall-church with groined vaulting. On the north side is the Late Gothic chapterhouse, now the Municipal Museum.

Some 14km/8.5mi southwest of Pirna is Weesenstein, with a large Schloss (14th-19th C; now a museum) standing high above the river Müglitz; Schlosskapelle. Notable features of the interior are the Roccoco wall paintings, Chinese-patterned wallpaper, banqueting hall with stucco ceiling (1619) and French leather wall-coverings. Baroque gardens (1781).