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"Cathedral in the countryside"
Parish Church of St. Pauls | Eppan
One of the most important sacred buildings in South Tyrol
The 86-metre-high church tower with its onion dome can be seen from afar. In past times, St. Pauls was the main town of the municipality of Eppan and countless nobles settled here. As a result, the parish grew to become one of the richest in all of South Tyrol, and to do justice to its size, it built the oversized church. Inside there are 9 bells, including the second largest bell in South Tyrol, cast in the Grassmayr bell foundry in Innsbruck. They call to mass in a dark, beautiful tone.
In St. Pauls | Eppan stands one of the most important sacred buildings in South Tyrol. It is the parish church of St. Paul's Conversion, which is also often affectionately called the "cathedral in the countryside". The church, dedicated to the conversion of St. Paul, stands in the centre of St. Pauls | Eppan and is impressive for its size alone. Thanks to the many noble inhabitants of the region, the parish of Eppan became the richest parish in South Tyrol around 1147, which is why the church of the then headquarters of St. Pauls | Eppan should also radiate the pomp and power of the parish accordingly. The construction of this massive building took over 250 years, which is why the substructure and middle section are in the style of the German late Gothic, while the end with the onion dome is clearly from the Italian Baroque period, which can be found throughout northern Italy and in Lombardy.
The interior of the church is in the style of a late Gothic hall church with 3 naves. The magnificent high altar and the two side altars are by the Innsbruck painter and carver Michael Stolz. In addition, there are numerous other pieces of decoration, such as the altarpiece of the baroque former high altar, the family coats of arms of various noble families, busts of the apostles and the sculpture of the Madonna with the Child Jesus from the 15th century, as well as much more.
The parish church of St. Pauls is not only one of the largest village churches in South Tyrol, its construction is also a real masterpiece: the tower of the "cathedral in the countryside" as it is popularly called, measures 86 metres.
The tower itself contains 9 bells, the largest of which weighs 3,8 tonnes. It is the second largest bell in South Tyrol. It was cast by the Grassmayr bell foundry in Innsbruck. Its tone corresponds to a low a.
The people were so frightened by this that they immediately put the bell back in its place, where it still hangs today.
Once a week, a guided tour of the parish church of St. Pauls | Eppan is organised as part of our weekly programme.
