Video Guide for St Nicholas Parish Church - Merano

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This church dates to 1220. The bell tower was completed by Hans Busagg. External frescoes around the church including one by Venceslao in 1417 represent artistic excellence in the Tirol area. Other attractions include a beautiful rose window, impressive winged altar and wooden statues by Franz Pendi and Pirchstaller from the 1800s.

Travel Video Tags for St Nicholas Parish Church:

Alberto di Tirolo , Anton Klapeer , Santa Maria del Conforto , church , Byzantine frescoes , Romanesque , Gothic architecture ,

Some of our other Video Guides for Merano

• Blasius Trogmann Statue
• Empress Elizabeth Statue
• Chiesa dello Spirito Santo
• Chiesa di Santa Maria del Conforto

St Nicholas Parish Church Travel Video - Audio Transcript

St Nicholas Parish Church

At the top end of Via Portici Laubengasse stands the parish church of St Nicholoas, the biggest church in Merano and one of the oldest purely Gothic buildings in the Tyrol area.

At 83m, this tower is also one of the highest in South Tyrol. It was completed in various stages, this being quite obvious from the cornices of red stone cut into the top half. The bottom half was constructed in the 1300s while the top was finished between the 1500-1600s by Hans Busagg.

At the base of the tower are gothic frescoes completed in the 1300s around the time when the tower was only half finished. This one of La Pietà from 1417 which was incidentally restored around 1700. This huge one shows a pilgrim in the middle of a forest bowing before a cross which is being pointed to by an Oriental person. It was painted by Venceslao and represents one of the first dynamic landscaping scenes of the early 1400s in the Tyrol area. The combination of rich natural elements suggests he was following the style of Veronesi.

Around the other side of the church are various headstones lined against a wall and even mounted on the church itself. Many of the names inscribed are Germanic in origin and date back as far as the late 1700s early 1800s. This modern statue made from marble shows an archbishop of Merano although past or present is not indicated.

The three naves are separated by 10 cylindrical columns made from blocks of stone which support the beautifully ribbed vault above. The huge central nave continues to the front illuminating the chorus stands unfortunately dimly lit in this footage. Below some of the arched stain glass windows are fabulous wooden display housing statues of various saints. They are the works of Franz Pendi and a local Meranese Pirchstaller from the first half of the 1800s. The chorus stalls and confessional boxes are gothic in style.

At the back of the church is the organ neatly arranged between the rails of the gallery while behind it is the brightly coloured rose window which sheds light on the main nave when the sun strikes it around midday.

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