Mariazell - Pilgrimage Church of the Nativity of the Virgin
Standing high above the town of Mariazell, the pilgrimage church of the Nativity of the Virgin was built in Romanesque style about 1200 and converted to a Gothic hall-church in the 14th century. In the 17th century the whole church was remodeled in Baroque style. The central tower, in mainly Gothic form, is flanked by two more Baroque towers with onion domes.
Chapels were added to the nave during the Baroque remodeling in the 17th century. The Gothic choir was replaced by a transept and a chancel with a vaulted roof. The great Baroque architects Fischer von Erlach the Elder and the Younger played a major part in this reconstruction and were also responsible for several altars. The impressive high altar (c. 1700) has an over-life size Crucifixion group in silver (c. 1715, designed by Lorenzo Mattielli). In front of the altar tabernacle stands a beautiful Late Gothic Madonna. The nave, side-chapels and galleries are all decorated with stucco work. The basilica contains the grave of the Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty.
The centerpiece of the church is the Chapel of Mercy at the end of the original nave. It contains the suppliant altar (c. 1650; in silver by Augsburg master craftsmen) and the Late Romanesque Madonna of the 13th C. The chapel is sealed off by means of a silver grille made c. 1750 by J. Wagner of Vienna. The side-chapels are decorated with altarpieces by J. A. Mölk and Tobias Bock (including one of St Stephen before the Virgin, 17th C.).
The treasure chamber contains valuable votive offerings accumulated over six centuries, including a painting (c. 1380; a gift from a Hungarian king), a wooden figure of Madonna and Child, an ivory relief of Our Lady, crystal lamps and chasubles as well as miniatures of the Imperial family.
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