Garnet chapel, Modern chapel at Penken saddle in Finkenberg, Austria
Garnet Chapel sits at 2,087 meters on the Penken saddle and features twelve identical rhomboid surfaces made of weathering steel. The interior is lined with local larch wood that develops a warm patina over time.
Plans for the chapel took shape in 2011–2012, and negotiations were held on 10 July 2012, the anniversary of Engelbert Kolland's death. Construction began on 17 June 2013, and clerics inaugurated the building on 22 September 2013, the day Kolland had been baptised. Kolland, a Franciscan friar born in Ramsau in the Zillertal, was beatified on 10 October 1926.
The chapel is dedicated to Engelbert Kolland, a Franciscan friar from Ramsau in the Zillertal, beatified on 10 October 1926 and canonised by Pope Francis on 20 October 2024. A walnut altar and a portrait of Kolland, made by Markus Thurner of Maurach am Achensee as a wooden mosaic of maple, cherry, apple, pear and walnut, stand inside.
The chapel stands at about 2,087 metres on the Penkenjoch, roughly 40 metres northeast of the Penken reservoir. It is reached on foot in about ten minutes from the top station of the Finkenberger Almbahnen gondola. The exposed alpine position makes weather changeable, so bring clothing for wind and rain.
Swiss architect Mario Botta designed the structure as a geometric rhombic dodecahedron inspired by garnet crystals found in the area. The weathering steel exterior gradually develops a rust-like patina that becomes part of the alpine landscape.
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