Benedictine abbey of Mariastein, Benedictine monastery in Metzerlen-Mariastein, Switzerland

Benedictine abbey of Mariastein is a monastery complex featuring a three-nave basilica with late Gothic architectural elements and an underground cave chapel carved into the rock. The compound sits at about 500 meters elevation and includes several monastic buildings arranged around the religious core.

A chapel existed by 1434, and the Augustinian hermits of Basel cared for the pilgrimage. In 1648 Abbot Fintan Kiefer moved the failing Beinwil community here and built the monastery and church. French troops sacked the abbey in 1798, and the Kulturkampf forced the monks out in 1874; they returned in 1941 and the abbey was formally re-established in 1971.

The pilgrimage, listed among Switzerland's living traditions, draws Christians of various denominations alongside Tamil Hindus, who partly identify Mary with a Hindu deity, and Turkish Alevis. The name Mariastein, 'Mary in the stone', refers to the Madonna standing free in the rock face of the cave chapel.

Visitors can attend daily prayer services that run from morning prayer through night prayer according to the monastery's calendar. It is helpful to check the current schedule beforehand, as service times vary by season.

The Chapel of Grace lies in a cave beneath the abbey church, reached by a stair of 59 steps. The image of the Mother of Consolation, in its present form from the 17th century, stands free in the rock face holding the child on her right arm, surrounded by six putti holding candlesticks. Votive tablets line the way down.