Assumption of Mary church, Gothic church in Terlan, Italy.
The Assumption of Mary church is a two-aisled stepped hall church with a long, three-bay choir ending in an irregular five-eighth close. A Romanesque bell tower from around 1300 stands on the north side of the nave, and the free-standing late-Gothic bell tower, 76 metres high, rises nearby. The interior is covered by the largest fresco cycle in a rural church in Tyrol.
A Romanesque church was first documented in 1206; its bell tower survives on the north side of the nave. The Gothic rebuild began in the 14th century, and a cleric named Heinrich was buried in the choir in 1363, so the choir was already finished. The nave was completed in the early 15th century, and the free-standing tower was built around 1530. The tower leaned and was dismantled in 1881, then rebuilt by 1893 to plans by Friedrich von Schmidt.
The church's property was administered by lay provosts on behalf of the community; in 1413 documents name Cristan der Linger and Ulreich der Posch as the "two church provosts of Our Lady at Terlan". The von Niedertor family chose the church as its burial place and held the right to present the chaplaincy, granted in 1513 to Leonhard Textor of Augsburg by the Trent cathedral chapter.
The free-standing bell tower stands separately from the nave on the north side; the tower entrance is on its east side. The church floor was raised by 0.75 m between 1822 and 1824 and lowered again during 20th-century restorations, so the south portal created in that period sits at the present ground level. The tower and roof were restored between 1995 and 1996.
The late-Gothic bell tower, 76 m high, began leaning because of moisture damage in its foundations and was known as the "leaning tower of Terlan". A local legend says it bowed to a pure virgin and will straighten only when another passes by. It was dismantled in 1881 and rebuilt from the original material by 1893 to plans by Vienna cathedral architect Friedrich von Schmidt.
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