Innsbruck - Silver Chapel

(Local Name: Silberne Kapelle) Above Innsbruck's Franziskanerbogen (Franciscan Arch), through which the Burggraben leads into the Rennweg, is the Silver Chapel (Silberne Kapelle: entrance from Hofkirche), built in 1578-87 as the burial chapel of Archduke Ferdinand II. The chapel takes its name from a silver image of the Virgin and the embossed silver reliefs on the altar symbolizing the Lauretanian (Loreto) Litany. In recesses in the wall are the tombs of the Archduke (d. 1595) and his wife Philippine Welser (d. 1580), both by Alexander Colin. The fine organ dates from the 16th C.