Description of the attraction
The parish church of the Virgin Mary is located in the cemetery in the northern part of Mayrhofen. It was probably built in the 14th century. After a devastating fire, the building of the temple was rebuilt in 1500-1511 in the Gothic manner and consecrated in honor of the Virgin. At the end of the 16th century, the church burned down again. The sacred building was restored in 1590.
In 1674, in Mayrhofen, at the insistence of the former Archbishop of Salzburg, Max Gandolf, its own vicariate was created. Since that time, a silver cross with the name of Gandolph has been kept in the temple.
The city of Mayrhofen grew and developed, the number of inhabitants increased, and the small parish church could no longer accommodate all the believers who also came to services from neighboring villages. In 1740, another reconstruction of the Church of the Virgin Mary took place. The more spacious church was built practically from scratch. On September 4, 1756, it was consecrated by Archbishop Sigismund III, Count von Schrattenbach. The nave acquired baroque features. At the same time, the high altar was created by the master from Tyrol Veit Steiner.
10 years after the consecration of the church, a cemetery was laid out around the temple. The Church of the Virgin Mary was repaired several more times. In 1858, she received the status of a parish. In 1968-1969, the old temple was dismantled, and an octagonal structure with a Gothic choir was built in its place. To the north of the choir rises the belfry of the church, decorated with a spire.
In the interior of the temple, it is worth paying attention to the painting of the wooden ceiling, created in 1971 by the artist Max Weiler, and the baroque fresco "The Coronation of Our Lady" in the choir.
