Page 181 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

ST Y RIA  179

Splendid autumn colours in the woods around Turracher Höhe
backdrop of the pistes and family but its star attraction is p Oberwölz
the beautiful snow-covered the main altar (1655), a mag- Road map E4. * 1,000.
hills of the ski resort. nificent work by local Baroque n Hauptplatz 15, (03581) 8420.
masters, incorporating a Gothic ∑ oberwoelz-lachtal.at
painting of the Crucifixion
o Murau (c.1500). Also worth seeing This small town, which grew
Road map E4. * 3,700. £ @ are the medieval frescoes of rich through its trade in salt and
n (03532) 2720. ∑ murau.at St Anthony in the transept, and the smelting of silver excavated
the Entombment of Christ and in the surrounding hills, has
Murau sprang up in the 13th Annunciation in the main nave. preserved some of its former
century at a crossroads of trading The castle behind the church, glory. In its environs many
routes on the scenic Mur river Schloss Murau, was founded archaeological finds from the
and became a local centre for by the Liechtenstein family Hallstatt period have been
commerce and industry. The and later passed into the hands unearthed, revealing a long
historic town centre of Murau of the Schwarzenbergs. It has history. Oberwölz once
lies on the left bank of the Mur an interesting museum of belonged to the bishopric of
river. Its Renaissance houses metallurgy. In the vaults of Freising and up to the time of
are domi nated by the Gothic Elisabethkirche, at No. 4 the Napoleonic wars its envoy
Matthäuskirche, the church of Marktgasse, is a Diocesan resided in the neighbouring
St Matthew, consecrated in the Protestant Museum that holds Schloss Rothenfels.
13th century and later altered documents relating to the The town has some well-
in the Baroque style. The church events around the Reformation preserved remains of medieval
contains some interesting and the Counter-Reformation in fortifications, including three
tombs of the Liechtenstein this part of Austria. turrets and two town gates.
Its pride is the Gothic Stadt-
pfarrkirche St Martin, the
parish church of St Martin, a
triple-nave basilica with an
early- Gothic chapel and a 15th-
century Gothic vestibule. In
1777, J. A. von Mölk painted the
ceiling frescoes in the chapel
vault. On the external south wall
is a relief from 1500, showing
the Last Judgement. Next to the
church stands the 14th-century
chapel of St Sigismund, with
the Way of the Cross by Johann
Lederwasch from the turn of
the 18th century. In the Cultural
Centre is a regional museum with
a collection of archaeological
finds from the area, and a
Historic buildings in the old town of Murau on the Mur river museum of wind instruments.
Traditional huts in an Alpine village, Goeriachtal valley

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