Group 3 | Station 22 – Friesach QR Project

Group 3 | Station 22 | Holy Blood Church

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Holy Blood Church (Seminary Church)

The Holy Blood Church, also known as the Seminary Church, is located under the Rotturm ruins in the so-called “Sack” in Friesach. It is a Roman Catholic branch church of the Friesach parish church.

History

The First Church
The first church on this site was owned by the Cistercians of Viktring.

It was consecrated in 1194 CE and was destroyed by fire between 1211 and 1215.

The Dominicans
In 1217, the Dominicans established their first settlement in the German-speaking region next to the church and built a monastery.

After 1255, the Dominicans moved to the current location of the monastery in the north of Friesach, outside the town walls.

The Cistercian Nuns
Cistercian nuns then took over the church and monastery. The church was damaged by fire in 1289/1291. It was rebuilt in 1309.

Seminary
In 1608, the monastery was dissolved and a seminary was established by Salzburg Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau.

Fire in 1673
After another fire in 1673, the church was rebuilt in 1684 (because of the Holy Blood cult), but the monastery building fell into disrepair.

Church Building, Layout

Building

Church Exterior

West Facade
The west facade of the 14th century church building has a narrow bell tower with an onion dome.

Chancel and Nave
Seen from the outside, the chancel and nave are not visibly separated. The walls of the chancel polygon and the north side of the nave are supported by double-stepped buttresses. These walls are pierced by high double lancet windows.

South Facade
On the south side of the church, there is a continuous, two-storey Baroque extension.

North Facade
The church entrance is at the north side of the nave. The north side has a heraldic tombstone of Abbess Sophia Reifnitz (from the first half of the 16th century).

Church Interior

In the single-nave church, a ribbed vault is supported by consoles.

A nun’s gallery was built in the western half of the nave in 1627.

Labelled Images

Map: 22
Stations: 1A | 21 | 22 | 29 | 30