Kirchenruine Virgilienberg, Gothic church ruins on hilltop in Friesach, Austria

The Kirchenruine Virgilienberg is a Gothic church ruin perched on a hilltop overlooking Friesach. The remaining walls display decorative tracery windows and buttresses typical of medieval construction methods and design.

The church was dedicated to Saint Virgil and suffered from several major fires that contributed to its decline over time. After these disasters, it was never reconstructed and remained abandoned as a ruin.

The provosts of Virgilienberg held the office of Vizedom in the second half of the 13th century, combining religious and secular authority in Friesach. The church was dedicated to Saint Virgil, canonized in 1233, which gives the site its name. Visitors can still see the two- and three-part tracery windows and the round services on figurative and ornamental consoles that once supported the vault.

You can reach the ruins by following marked trails that start from Friesach's town center and lead uphill. There are informational signs at the site that explain the building's architecture and its past.

The provostry owned a library of European standing, and in the second half of the 13th century the office of Vizedom passed into the hands of its provosts. The first named provost was Hartwig, recorded in 1240. The church could not have been consecrated before Virgil was canonised in 1233.