Description of the attraction
The Church of St. Gall is located in the southeastern part of Bregenz, about a kilometer from the city's harbor. It rises on a sheer cliff at about the same level, 600 meters above sea level, as the famous Mount St. Gebhard, on which Hohenbregenz Castle stands.
The first religious building appeared here in the middle of the 5th century. In 610, on the territory of modern Switzerland, Saints Gall and Columban preached the Word of God, who later became the patrons of this country. In that year, these saints rebuilt the destroyed small chapel in Bregenz and consecrated it in honor of Saint Aurelia. A large church dedicated to St. Gall appeared here much later - the first documentary mention of it dates back to 1079.
The modern temple was built on the foundations of a Romanesque building. The choir room was completed in 1477 and the powerful bell tower in 1480. It is a typical late Gothic building with an arch on the lower floor and two small pointed windows on the upper floor. The tower consists of three tiers in total. Its roof was completed already in 1672-1673.
In 1737, the church was almost completely rebuilt in the Baroque style, only the tower remained unchanged. The decoration of the temple has survived from the same time and is also made mainly in the Baroque style. New large semicircular windows were also made, which made the interior of the church bright and spacious.
The church consists of several side chapels and luxuriously decorated choirs. Under them, by the way, there is a crypt with a separate chapel of St. Michael, in which amazing paintings from 1480-1490 have been preserved. These frescoes depict the Virgin Mary and Child and various saints, including the patron saint of the temple, Saint Gall.
Near the church there are several small houses built in the 16th-18th centuries. Church ministers and parish priests lived here. All these structures are considered unique examples of the Baroque architectural style. Also in the churchyard there is a memorial in memory of those killed in the First World War, built in 1931.
