Saint Augustine church, Baroque church in Gries-Quirein district, Bolzano, Italy

Saint Augustine Church is a baroque church in Gries, Bolzano, built in 1769 by Antonio Giuseppe Sartori of Castione. Its perimeter walls follow a wavy baroque line, and the interior is wide and harmonious. Martin Knoller painted the walls and ceiling: the vault fresco shows Jesus among radiant figures, with Augustine hurling lightning at the Damned below and the Four Continents in the corners.

The church was built in 1769 by Antonio Giuseppe Sartori of Castione, next to the older princely castle. It first belonged to the Augustinians, who served the churches of the valley floor. After secularization it passed to Benedictines from Muri Abbey in Aargau, Switzerland, yet kept its dedication to Saint Augustine.

The church kept the dedication to Saint Augustine after the Augustinians were secularised and the building passed to Benedictines from Muri Abbey in Aargau, Switzerland. The monastery next door is still a working Benedictine abbey, and the square in front, Grieser Platz, takes its character from the church and the former princely castle beside it.

The church stands on Grieser Platz in the Gries district, next to the former princely castle that now houses the Muri-Gries Benedictine abbey. The massive bell tower, once the keep of the castle walls, rises beside the main building. The entrance faces the square, so the facade and tower are seen together from the open space in front.

The main bell, called Augustinusglocke or Kaiserglocke, weighs 5,026 kg and was cast by Carlo Chiappani of Trento in 1895; it is the only bell that survived the requisitions of World War I. The tower holds nine bells tuned to A-flat major, plus a death bell in A-flat 4. The tower itself was once the keep of the castle walls.