St. Michael Church

In the hamlet of San Michele near the Passo Pinei mountain pass there’s a little church, dedicated to the Archangel Michael

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The St. Michael Church: the Romanesque steeple with its round-arched windows can be seen from afar.
Foto: AT, © Peer
Some frescoes from the first half of the 15th century have been uncovered on the outside.
Foto: AT, © Peer
Idyllic! Wooden benches in front of the St. Michael Church, which is located in the eponymous hamlet at 1,280 m a.s.l.
Foto: AT, © Peer

For a long time already, the little St. Michael Church has watched over the eponymous hamlet of San Michele (St. Michael) which belongs to the municipality of Castelrotto (Kastelruth). Its oldest construction elements - the beautiful steeple and the walls of the nave - date back to the 13th century and thus to the Romanesque era.

The choir and the partly visible frescoes at the external walls, however, were created in the 15th century. The latter depict the Adoration of the Magi and St. Michael with the scale. Other elements of the "Michaeler Kirchlein", how it is called in Tyrolean dialect by locals, were added in the 18th century: the frescoes inside the church, the altarpiece and the ceiling paintings.

In its interior there are also three altars. The two side altars were consecrated to the Saints Vitus and Matthias, the high altar is dedicated - such as the whole building - to the Archangel Michael, the patron saint of soldiers and warriors. His feast day, celebrated on September 29, was an important day in the agricultural year and marked also the start of the cold season.