Pfarrkirche, Parish church in Matzen-Raggendorf, Austria.
The Pfarrkirche hl. Agapitus is a low church on a hill west of Raggendorf, with a volute-gabled west front and round-arched windows with volute-shaped frames. A choir of equal width and an east tower with a pointed spire adjoin the nave. The south nave wall shows an exposed Gothic rectangular window with a steeply chamfered reveal and visible ashlar masonry.
A parish in Raggendorf was first documented in 1328; a vicariate is recorded in 1715, and the parish was re-established in 1905. The church core dates from the 14th century, and in 1733 the nave was rebuilt in Baroque style and extended by one bay to the west.
The parish is dedicated to Saint Agapitus, whose image by Johann Nepomuk Höfel hangs above the tabernacle of the late-classicist high altar, flanked by statues of Saints Leopold and Florian. In the northern porch stands a late-Gothic stone relief of the Mount of Olives from the early 16th century. A bell from the 16th century still hangs in the east tower.
The church stands on a hill west of Raggendorf, not in the village centre, so approach from the western edge of the settlement. The north and west portals each have a porch; the former cemetery around the church still holds baroque gravestones from the 18th century and one from 1819, with remnants of the boundary wall to the north. The former school, a plain two-storey building from the second half of the 18th century, stands east of the church.
The building carries the official name Kath. Pfarrkirche hl. Agapitus and is dedicated to Saint Agapitus. This specific dedication combined with its heritage protection status makes the building noteworthy for those interested in local history.
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