The Franciscan monastery

The Franciscan monastery was founded in 1507 by Emperor Maximilian 1st. The monastery church is one of the biggest and most beautiful gothic places of worship in Tirol, built to plans devised by Christof Reichartinger in ‘Rococo’ style. The splendid colourful glass paintings of the chancel windows are pieces which were created by Schwaz artist Prof. Fred Hochschwarzer and represent scenes of the life of St. Francis. The stone altar to the front left is dedicated to the Painful Mother of God – the middle section is a late Gothic sculpture of Mater Dolorosa – a work from the early 16th century from Swabia. The altar to St. Joseph (front right) is adorned with a statue by Schwaz sculptor Johann Michael Fischler, who created it for the former Baroque altar in 1736. In the centre of the nave to the right is the high altar, with the expressive stone crucifix by the famous Loy Hering (died 1554). It was originally placed at the altar in front of the choir screen and came to be at its present position during the Baroque reconstruction in 1735.

The cloister of the monastery is a unique gem and was decorated by Pater Wilhelm of Schwaben with scenes from the Passion Christi. The cloister is part of the oldest section of the monastery. 22 arcades with crossed vaults enclose the rectangular central courtyard, 5 additional arcades lengthen the cloister to the west right the way through to today’s main entrance to the monastery. The crossed vaults have 25 coats of arms on their vertices. From the courtyard 18 simple pointed arch windows with pretty traceries open up. The architectural design of the cross courtyard is uniquely beautiful. The courtyard is a worthy setting for the summer serenade concerts. Access to the Bonaventurakapelle is from the cloister. When it was being built it was the temporary church for the monastery. The reliefs which surround the altar cross and have scenes from the life of Christ are especially worth seeing.

Site plan