St. Anton am Kofel, Church building in Kastelruth, South Tyrol, Italy
St. Anton am Kofel is a church standing on a hill north of Kastelruth village, incorporating an original castle tower into its structure. The building features a two-story design with stone-framed doors and is surrounded by Stations of the Cross that form a pilgrimage route.
The site shows signs of settlement from the Middle to Late Bronze Age, and an iron helmet from the 4th-3rd century BC confirms long-term habitation. In 1675, Georg Kraus zu Krausegg transformed the ruins of the old castle into the present chapel.
The church is dedicated to Saint Anton and serves as a focal point for pilgrimage, with the Stations of the Cross marking a sacred route for visitors. The combination of chapel and religious stations creates a place for personal devotion within the landscape.
Access is via a marked footpath that departs from Kastelruth village and passes through the Stations of the Cross. The route is manageable on foot and offers moments for reflection at each station along the way.
The chapel emerged from a creative reuse of castle ruins, with the surviving defensive tower becoming the core of the new religious building. This unusual blending of the secular and the sacred makes the site architecturally notable.
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