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 and a large narthex was added. In 1478 the church got severely damaged by Turkish troops during the Ottoman incursions. It got rebuilt and re-consecrated in 1486. Some parts of the Romanesque church got reused here, note the lion / gargoyle.