St. Nicholas (Laas)

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St. Nicholas from the southwest

The former small church of St. Nikolaus (colloquially “Sonta Clas”) is located in the area of ​​the municipality of Laas in South Tyrol , where the old Vinschger Straße joins the state road 38 .

history

The building is mentioned for the first time when a Benedict, subdelegate of the papal commissioner Johannes in Purgo, gave indulgences to the "St. Nicholas Chapel of Laz" on April 30, 1390 because the funds for further construction were lacking.

From the time of Pastor Simon Tröger there are still records from 1722 in which the foundations, annual offices and various monthly activities of the pastor are written down. Among other things, there is the entry:

"July 12th was a procession with the Hoegstn Gueth and the singing of the 4 Evangelia to St. Nicolaus and all there ain Ambt so in the year 1702 because of the damage the Läan was betrothed, the cause of the Pann feygraben and this day are to be kept, The pastor has received 1 fl. "

Just in 1702 another huge mudslide had descended, destroyed most of the farms from the Lahngraben down to the village and also caused great damage there. This procession was later held on July 10th, Margaret's Day.

In 1786 this church was also affected by the reforms of Emperor Joseph II . Up to this point in time, on Martini, on St. Catherine, for the patronage on December 6th and on the Sunday after Maria Magdalena, St. Mass read. Also:

".... on the feast of St. Anna is ain ambt at St. Niclaus with a preceding Vespers and is an engaged Feyrtag"

Cloisters after the Church of St. Nicholas were held on St. Mark and on Wednesday at the Prayer Days .

After the profanation by Joseph II, the faithful also moved to Eyrs to the St. Joseph Chapel on the days of prayer , until this was also given up.

The building was then used as a warehouse and tool shed until it came under the care of the Monument Office in 1984. Since then, renovation work has been carried out so that the building can now be used for exhibitions and the like.

Building

The building that exists today is oriented from west to east and dates back to around 1500 as a late Gothic building. It has net vaults that are the same width in the nave and in the choir , two pointed arched windows with tracery, polygonal choir ends and a bell gable for two bells the west wall. The entrance door is covered and is in the south facade, to the right of it a niche with frescoes of St. Martin on horseback and a shroud of Christ.

Fresco from the handkerchief of Veronica

The church itself was also affected by numerous mudslides . During the drainage work on the north wall, which was graveled several meters deep, the remains of a small chapel were found - approx. 3 × 3 meters with a semicircular apse facing the mountain . The walls were partially whitewashed and contained remains of frescoes from around 1416 to 1420. The frescoes show a colored Madonna, and the relevant parts have been preserved. The picture is painted using a real fresco technique on wet plaster, the halos and ornaments are pressed into the mortar . Elaborately restored, it can now be found in the parish hall of Laas. There is also a depiction of a holy bishop , of whom only fragments exist and who is the patron saint , St. Nikolaus , is likely to act, plus a much smaller donor figure with a banner. This chapel is estimated by experts to be in the late 14th century, which makes it identical to the chapel mentioned for 1390.

Nothing is known about bells that were very likely to have existed.

The State Monuments Office reports:

“At the time the new church was built, the chapel must still have existed and perhaps served as a sacristy , as a door opening on the north-facing masonry of today's church shows. The small complex is also created with a complicated sequence. The remains of the south wall of the chapel have several round arches, the function of which is unclear. There are also two channels running through the floor that lead into these round arches. The youngest of two arches are made of bricks, the formats of which appear relatively young, at least post-baroque. Along two chapel walls there are low plinths made of brick, one of which has a series of sloping recesses. The walls of the chapel and the reinforcement wall in front of the apse are made of good lime mortar, but the interior plaster is smeared with clay and this clay plaster was then sealed by fire. It seems that the room could have been used as a water chamber. Even later, the chapel was filled with gravel through quarries, so that today no more tradition knows about it. "

The Christophorus frescoes on the south facade have also been restored, but the weather has made the picture fade.

Inside, the sacred character has disappeared. During the restoration in 1984, the interior was whitewashed and the ribs of the cross vault painted ocher yellow.

literature

  • Gertraud Laimer Tappeiner: Churches of Laas, Eyrs, Tschengls and Tanas. Ed. Pfarre Laas, Verlag Tappeiner, Lana 2011, p. 63.

Web links

Commons : St. Nicholas  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Entry in the monument browser on the website of the South Tyrolean Monuments Office

Coordinates: 46 ° 37 '4.3 "  N , 10 ° 42' 34.7"  E