Villach Church of the Holy Cross

Villach’s Heiligenkreuzkirche is a Roman Catholic parish and pilgrimage church.The late baroque church is located on the Drau’s southern bank in the Perau district.

The church is designed in the cruciform style.The center thin dome atop a high, octagonal tambour with an octagonal lantern is the focal point over the crossing.The two three-story facade towers are framed by pilasters and cornices that contain two figural niches at the bottom and one window opening at the top.The pilaster capitals are Tuscan, Ionic, and Corinthian in ascending sequence of floor forms up.The towers are topped with tall onion domes.Andreas Röder cast the first bell in 1728.In 1964, the 900 kilogram cross bell and the 368 kg Saint Peter’s bell were purchased.Three statues are placed up in the tower niches: a monk, most likely St. Benedict or Francis of Assisi, at the bottom of the north tower, John the Baptist at the top, and a late baroque St. Ulrich on the exterior.St. Ferdinand of Castile is at the bottom of the south tower, St. Helena is at the top, and Anthony of Padua is on the exterior.The curving façade between the towers features a rectangular porch over the entrance on which an Ecce homo group stands.An aedicule with a niche bearing a figure of Christ the King in the gesture of a preacher made by Jacob Campidell in 1929 forms the conclusion of the central façade.A multi-figure painting of the Accusation of Christ, done in the first half of the nineteenth century, may be seen on the bottom of the portico.An oval connecting area to the east of the north facade tower leads to the modest, narrow Holy Cross Chapel with a west choir, which is adjacent to the north side of the church.

The crossing and the transept with semi-circular apses follow the one and a half bay long nave.The two-bay choir concludes in an apse, with square annexes on either side of the second bay and oratories on the upper level.The walls are split by pilasters with ornate capitals, which are supported by a cranked, overhanging cornice with segmental arched windows above it.The painting “FP 1743” under the somewhat bent organ gallery depicts the expulsion of the money changers from the temple.

Fritz Fröhlich painted the vault paintings in the late Expressionist style in 1960.In the dome, you may see the apocalyptic lamb with the 24 elders.The spandrels of the dome base portray Saints Helena, Bernard, Longinus, and Joseph of Arimathea.

The paintings in the chancel depict Christ’s Resurrection.Two angels stand nearby, bearing the column of scourges, or spear and vinegar sponge.Other implements of pain, such as a whip, hammer, and tongs, have their own medallions.Saint Peter is depicted in gray carrying an upside-down cross in front of the Church of the Holy Cross.Medallions featuring water waves and fish captured in a net are attached on the side as additional Peter qualities.

Saints Rupert and Modestus are represented in the southern apse, while the Assumption of the Virgin is depicted in the northern apse.Above the organ is a statue of Saint Cecilia.