Marienkirche am Benediktinermarkt, Baroque church at Benediktinerplatz, Klagenfurt, Austria

Marienkirche am Benediktinermarkt is a single-nave Baroque church with a plain exterior, built onto the north side of the monastery complex. Its straight-ended choir and round-arched windows face the square, where the Antoniuskapelle with its round apse projects outward. The octagonal tower with a copper onion dome and lantern stands between nave and choir.

The church was founded in 1613 by the Catholic Carinthian estates together with the adjoining Franciscan monastery, which was consecrated in 1617. Adam Kolnig and Johann Baptist Klöpfer built the church, consecrated in 1624. A fire in 1636 badly damaged it and destroyed the high altar; the tower was rebuilt in 1638, raised in 1723 and given its onion dome and lantern. It served the Franciscans until 1806, then the Benedictines from 1807 to 1903, and the Jesuits from 1909 to 1986.

The church is named after Mary, who held special importance in religious life during the Baroque period. Visitors can observe through the tombstones how the building reflects the social standing of those buried within its walls.

The church is attached to the north side of the monastery complex on Benediktinerplatz, with the Antoniuskapelle projecting into the square; its north facade has four windows. The nave is a single hall under a barrel vault on stone consoles, and the three-aisled organ gallery rests on Tuscan columns. Look for the oldest surviving stucco in Klagenfurt, around the chapel portals, dating from about 1640.

The chapel's surrounding portals carry stucco from around 1640, the oldest surviving stucco in Klagenfurt, with pearl bands, palmettes, rosettes and winged putti heads. The chapel's apse also holds floating angels, and its classicist altar and tabernacle were made by Josef Stauder in 1851.