St. John the Baptist (Kastel-Staadt)

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St. John from the west

St. John the Baptist in the district of Kastel von Kastel-Staadt is a Catholic church and a memorial. The parish office is in Freudenburg .

history

The church of St. John the Baptist probably stands on Roman foundations - not far from the building traces of extensive buildings from Roman times have been found, including the remains of a theater with over 3000 seats, as well as remains of a cult building and a palace.

Detail of a coffin lid

Franconian graves from the 7th century AD, which were found in the vicinity of the church, indicate that the place was used as a cemetery at least since the time of the Great Migration . The Romanesque church tower dates from the end of the 12th century, the nave in its original shape is around 100 years younger.

Until the 15th century the church served as a parish church in an area that was extended to Trassem and Freudenburg , from 1442 it was a branch church. It marks the site of a settlement that was abandoned in the Middle Ages. The village was then affected by the plague and the surviving residents later settled a few hundred meters from the desert , so that the church of St. John the Baptist is no longer in the town, but about 800 meters from the town center. The building was still used as a chapel; the cemetery also remained in use.

In 1509 the church, together with Freudenburg, became the property of a Benedictine monastery in Trier .

In 1629, the building, which had previously had a single nave, was expanded by the builder Niklas or Nikolaus from Perl and converted into a two-nave church with a late Gothic vault. The building has impressive acoustics. The arcade of sound bears a grotesque figure, the fighters are decorated with grimaces. Today there is a modern figure of Christ above the altar; In the left side wall there is a memorial plaque for the dead who were not buried or buried in an unknown location.

  • North side

  • Interior

  • Vault

  • Detail with year of renovation

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Verbandsgemeindeverwaltung Saarburg - Parishes of the Catholic Church ( Memento from August 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Commons : St. John the Baptist (Kastel-Staadt)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 34 ′ 2.3 "  N , 6 ° 34 ′ 12.3"  E