Pfarrkirche Mariae Himmelfahrt Bad Hofgastein, Gothic parish church in Bad Hofgastein, Austria.
Pfarrkirche Mariae Himmelfahrt is a three-aisled stepped hall church built from 1498 to 1507, with a Gothic west tower raised in 1602. The exterior has an unarticulated rectangular plan, a recessed choir with a three-sided apse, a pitched roof, pointed-arch windows and stepped buttresses. The tower carries a mosaic of the Virgin of Mercy from 1967 and is topped by an eight-sided spire covered in wood shingles.
The church was first recorded in 1023 under Archbishop Hartwig and has since shaped the town of Bad Hofgastein. Fires destroyed much of it over the centuries, leading to a major reconstruction from 1498 to 1507 that gave it its current form.
The church is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, a theme reflected in its altar artwork and interior decoration. The artistic choices throughout the space show how this religious focus shaped the spiritual life of the local community.
The church stands at Höhenweg 8, above the market centre rather than in it, so the walk from the town core is uphill. The south side of the nave has a coupled round-arch arcade whose pillars date from 1573, and the fourth bay holds the entrance to the lower church. The tower's west facade carries a mosaic of the Schutzmantelmadonna from 1967.
The west facade of the tower carries a mosaic of the Virgin of Mercy (Schutzmantelmadonna) from 1967. Older are the Gothic door fittings on the west portal, and the eight-sided pulpit carved in 1716 by Georg Mayr of Mittersill. The hanging cross in the nave bears the donor's mark "H. Z. 1654" for Hans Zott.
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