St. Leonhardchurch - Impression #1 | © Tourismusverband Murau
  1. Home
  2. Plan your holidays
  3. Excursion destinations
  4. St. Leonhardchurch

St. Leonhardchurch

Murau

At the end of the Way of the Cross in Murau is the Filial Church of St. Leonhard. The small Gothic church on the right bank of the Mur above the St. Leonhard Square was first mentioned in 1439. The founder was Niklas von Liechtenstein. Inside the church, the visitor can expect a hall with a net vault, large windows with pure tracery, an early Baroque high altar with Gothic statues and the pulpit from the Baroque period.

General:
The church, built south of Murau on a steep slope, is reminiscent in many details of the legend of St. Leonhard of Noblac. Be it the entire church surrounding Kaffgesims, the grimace heads on the outer choir, which are banned by the band from the church or the church location above the intersection of north-south or west-east trade routes.

Chronological Placement:
The start of construction as well as the reason for the foundation and the course of construction have been handed down in several variants. Documented are pilgrimages to the "Leonhardikirche" from 1439, and in 1450 the church is mentioned in a letter of indulgence.

Construction:
St. Leonhard's Church is a late Gothic building with a long choir and an attached ridge turret. One finds quarry stone masonry, reticulated ribbed vaults, buttresses and the organ loft made of yellow sandstone. The ground plan is a two-and-a-half-bay rectangular room with a slightly recessed chancel and 3/8 end. Below the windows on the exterior wall, a multi-stepped kaffir cornice encircles the building. On the south portal are crab-ornamented ogee arches with escutcheons. A four-pane window with tracery can originally be seen on the west wall, but this is believed to have been bricked up in the 19th century after storm damage.

Figures:
Of the former Gothic altars, three figures still exist on the high altar: on the left, St. George as dragon slayer; next to him, St. Florian with water sheep; and on the right, St. Eustachius with armor and lance. The depiction in medieval armor is as remarkable as the smiling facial expression of St. George. Two figures from the St. Leonhard church are in the Alte Galerie at the Landesmuseum Joanneum. All figures come from the younger Villach workshop, created around 1520. They are made of lime or pine wood and are colored.
Innenausstattung | © Holzwelt Murau
© Holzwelt Murau | Tom Lamm
Altar | © Holzwelt Murau
© Holzwelt Murau | Tom Lamm
St. Leonhardkirche | © Tourismusverband Murau
© Tourismusverband Murau | Harry Schiffer

Contact

Pfarre Murau
Wallfahrtskirche St. Leonhard
beim Leonharditeich: Schlatting 62
8850 Murau
Phone +43 3532 2489

Links

What the weather will be like

Murau (811m)

Morning
weather.icon.73
-3°C
60%
5 km/h
Noon
cloudy
1°C
35%
10 km/h
Night
cloudy
-2°C
20%
10 km/h
Light snowfall in the early morning, but most of the day will be dry.
Morning
weather.icon.73
-2°C
55%
10 km/h
Noon
cloudy
3°C
60%
15 km/h
Night
cloudy
0°C
35%
10 km/h
Light snowfall in the early morning, but most of the day will be dry.
25.12.2024
very sunny
-5°C 4°C
26.12.2024
sunny
-4°C 5°C
27.12.2024
very sunny
-4°C 5°C