Description of the attraction
The Church of the Holy Blood of Jesus is the main parish church in the large Austrian city of Graz. It is located in the historic center of the city, in the Innere Stadt district, in the immediate vicinity of the Ioanneum museum quarter.
The first chapel of the Body and Blood of Christ appeared on this site back in 1440. After 25 years, it was transferred to a Dominican monastery and greatly increased in size. In 1520, extended choirs were completed. We can say that from that moment - from the middle of the 16th century - the modern church has reached almost unchanged form to this day. The structure of the interior of the temple is more typical of the Gothic than of the later architectural styles.
As for the main facade of the church, it was completely redone in 1780, at the same time a high and powerful bell tower, crowned with a bronze dome, was added to it. The portal of the church, featuring an elegant triangular pediment, was already made in the Baroque style.
The interior of the church was also in the Baroque style, but at the end of the 19th century, many of the already neo-Gothic decorations were added. For example, almost all altars have been replaced. Only the side chapel of St. John of Nepomuk has preserved baroque decorations, including the altar. Also preserved is a detail of the previous main altar belonging to the brush of Tintoretto himself, the great Venetian painter of the 16th century. It depicts the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Gothic stained glass windows were completely destroyed during the Second World War and were replaced already in the fifties. The new stained-glass windows were designed by Albert Birkle, one of the "forbidden" artists during the Nazi era. The stained-glass windows are made on the theme of the Passion of Christ, and the dictators - Hitler and Mussolini - are depicted as the executioners of Christ. The installation of these stained-glass windows caused a great resonance in society, but it was decided to leave them. Now the Church of the Holy Blood of Jesus is one of the few religious buildings, the interior of which contains such images.
