Mariazell
Austria · Styria · 868 m
Description
Mariazell is the most important pilgrimage site in Austria and the only national shrine in the German-speaking world, drawing around one million pilgrims a year to a mountain town of barely 1,200 residents. The basilica grew from a monk's cell founded in 1157 and mixes a Romanesque core with Gothic and Baroque additions, its Grace Altar holding the small limewood Madonna known as Magna Mater Austriae. Pilgrims still arrive on foot along the Via Sacra from Vienna, or aboard the narrow-gauge Mariazellerbahn built in 1907 to carry the crowds from St. Pölten. Above the town the Bürgeralpe cable car reaches 1,267 metres, and the turquoise Erlaufsee lies a few kilometres north. Mariazeller Lebkuchen has been baked here for centuries.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 3 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: May – September
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Basilica of Mariazell
- Magna Mater Austriae & Grace Altar
- Bürgeralpe
- Mariazellerbahn
- Bürgeralpe Cable Car
- Mariazell Treasury
- Erlaufsee
- Mariazell Main Square
- Via Sacra Pilgrimage Route
- Mariazeller Lebkuchen
- Holzknechtland Adventure World
- Bürgeralpe Ski Area
- Sigmundsberg
- Erlaufsee Swimming
- Gemeindealpe Mitterbach(Day trip)
- Ötscher-Tormäuer Nature Park(Day trip)
- Hubertussee & Walster(Day trip)
- Mariazell Advent (November - December)
Getting there
- Train stations:
- Mariazell, Mitterbach