Seckau#

Seckau, northern Styria, alt. 842 m, pop. 1,377, area 6.29 km2, market town (since 1273) and tourist resort at the southern foot of the Seckau Alps, in a northern lateral valley of the Mur Valley. - Boarding school of the Benedictine Abbey, wood-burning district heating, businesses run by the Abbey, popular as a tourist destination during summer (14,214 overnight stays in 1992) and for day-trips. The Benedictine Abbey was originally founded as a monastery of Augustinian Canons Regular in 1140 (at first in Sankt Marein bei Knittelfeld, in Seckau since 1142), it was closed in 1782 and re-opened by Benedictine monks in 1883 (closed again 1940-1945). From 1218-1782 Seckau was a bishop´s seat ( Diocese), when the bishopric was transferred to Graz. - Three-nave Romanesque basilica (started around 1143, consecrated in 1164, south tower from the 12th century); the building has been largely preserved and was restored after a fire in 1259, antechurch (13th century), construction of vaulted roofs on the naves in the 14th -15th centuries, 1891-1893 neo-Romanesque reconstruction of the west façade and the towers, 1964 redecoration of the chancel by C. Holzmeister, high altar (1964) with monumental Romanesque crucifixion group, fresco cycle (around 1270-1280); enlarged with chapels: Bishop´s Chapel (graves of the bishops of Seckau since 1595) with Gothic altar of the Coronation of Our Lady (consecrated in 1489), Lady Chapel (1885) with alabaster relief (around 1200), Gothic stained glass windows and gravestones decorated with reliefs, Angel Chapel with frescoes by H. Boeckl (1952-1960, with scenes taken from the Revelation of St. John the Divine), one of Austria´s most important works of sacred art after 1945; the mausoleum of Archduke Karl II (with frescoes and marble cenotaph) by A. de Verda was a masterpiece of early Baroque art at the court in Graz (1587-1611), interior decoration by S. Carlone; along with Karl II eight other Habsburgs are buried here. The abbey building (Baroque reconstruction starting from 1587 and esp. 1619-1657) is a four-wing complex with corner towers, courtyard with Tuscan pier arcades, defensive wall, Kaisersaal (emperor´s hall) and library with rich stucco ceilings (around 1660), wooden coffered ceiling in the "Black Hall"; abbey museum (art objects, coins); Chapel of St. Lucia with late-Gothic frescoes (1501) in the centre of Seckau; column dedicated to the Virgin Mary (around 1720).

Literature#