Maria Gail

Maria Gail is an important center of pilgrimage in Carinthia since centuries. It is locally claimed, that Langobardian missionaries may have founded Maria Gail within the 6th century.

The church was mentioned the first time in 1136. The once massive Romanesque church got enlarged (in Gothic style) between 1400 and 1450. In 1478 the church got severely damaged by Turkish troops during the Ottoman incursions. It got rebuilt and re-consecrated in 1486.

Maria Gail is known for the high quality of the Gothic and Baroque altars. During a renovation in 1950 late Romanesque frescoes were discovered along the walls of the nave. The two white pillars in the foreground (based on lions) may as well date to the Romanesque time of the church.