Last month, we shared four posts of Nicola’s pictures of the abbey of St John in Val Müstair, in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. About nine miles away, but on the Italian side of the border, stands the abbey of Marienburg (Mary’s mountain). It was originally founded in 1096 by a local noble family called von Tarasp, in a town on the other side of the mountain, but then moved to its current location in the mid-12th century. (The monastic community was the one which originally populated St John in Müstair, and was then replaced there by a women’s community.) It has the interesting distinction of being the highest abbey in Europe, at about 4400 feet above sea level. The complex burned down completely in 1418, so very little is preserved of its earlier history; it was damaged by another fire in 1656, just a few years after it had been given a major Baroque renovation. The church is an interesting combination of white and exuberant color, a take on the Baroque typical of the German-speaking world.
Saturday, February 15, 2025
Marienberg Abbey in Northern Italy
Gregory DiPippoSmall onion domes are very common in the Sud-Tyrol region of Italy, especially on the tops of bell-towers.
The main door of the abbey church; the statue over it survives from the very early 15th century.
The door into the church within the narthex.
To the left of the door, Charlemagne, the founder of St John in Müstair...
the motherhouse of Marienburg, founded by Ulrich von Tarasp.
The Baroque interior of the church, from the mid-17th century.
The high altar is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St Sebastian, and another martyr named Climaria.
Another altar of St Sebastian.
Reliquaries in the form of obelisks were very popular in the Baroque era.
Altar of St Pius V.
The entrance of the Lady chapel...
dedicated to the Mother of Sorrows.
The counterfaçade and organ.
Dedicatory inscription of the abbot Jakob Grafinger (1640-53), who presided over the Baroque redecoration of the church.
A representation of the members of the von Tarasp family, presenting the monastery to the Virgin Mary.