Wallfahrtskirche Maria Freienstein, Pilgrimage chapel in Sankt Peter-Freienstein, Austria

Wallfahrtskirche Maria Freienstein sits on a narrow rock plateau above the town and combines church features with remains of an older fortress structure. The building spreads across two rock plateaus and is surrounded by a ring wall that visitors reach by crossing a bridge.

The castle on the site, held by changing noble fief-holders and named Freienstein after the Idungspeuger family's Lower Austrian seat, had become dilapidated when the Leoben Jesuits bought it in 1652. With permission from the Archbishop of Salzburg they rebuilt it as a church between 1661 and 1663; consecration followed in 1718. After the order's suppression in 1773 the estate passed to the state and then to private owners.

The church is a pilgrimage site dedicated to Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, visited mainly on Marian feast days and during pilgrimages. It is a filial church of the parish of St. Peter-Freienstein and belongs to the Seelsorgeraum an der Eisenstraße. In the 1930s and 1940s the writer Gustav Hackl, works doctor at the Donawitz steelworks, used the rooms above the gatehouse as his poets' study.

The site is accessible by way of a bridge and allows visitors to explore the chapel and its surroundings. Wear comfortable shoes, as the terrain on the rock plateaus can be uneven in places.

The interior features altars and a pulpit in Jesuit style, constructed from black wood with golden ornaments and religious statues. This craftsmanship reflects the artistic skill of the Jesuits who oversaw the fortress conversion.