Feldkirch Cathedral (german: Dompfarrkirche St. Nikolaus) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

dedicated to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

in the city of

Feldkirch Feldkirch may refer to: Places * Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, a medieval city and capital of an administrative district in Austria ** Feldkirch (district), an administrative division of Vorarlberg, Austria * Feldkirch (Hartheim), a village in the munici ...

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( , ; gsw, label=Vorarlbergisch, Vorarlbearg, , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is ...

, Austria. It is part of the old town and is the largest

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church in Vorarlberg. It has been the cathedral of the

Diocese of Feldkirch The Diocese of Feldkirch ( la, Dioecesis Campitemplensis) is a diocese located in the city of Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, in the Ecclesiastical province of Salzburg in Austria. History * until the 19th century: part of the Swabian Dioceses of the C ...

since it was established in 1968.

History and description

The first church on the site was a

chapelry A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. Status It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel of ease (chapel) which was the communi ...

of one of two older churches ( St Petronilla's in

Rankweil Rankweil is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg, in the district Feldkirch. It is the second largest town in the district Feldkirch and the eighth largest town in Vorarlberg. Geography Rankweil is located in the southern Rhine ...

or St Peter's in Altenstadt); it was probably built around the same time as the

Schattenburg Schattenburg is a castle, museum and restaurant in Feldkirch, Vorarlberg (Austria). Schattenburg is above sea leve Its name is assumedly derived from the word stem "schatte, schad" meaning "protection, shield". History Hugo I. of Montfort, ...

and the beginnings of the present town of Feldkirch, which is to say, around 1200. It became an independent parish church in 1218. The dedication to Saint Nicholas dates from 1287.Dehio-Handbuch. ''Die Kunstdenkmäler Österreichs: Vorarlberg. Feldkirch. Dompfarrkirche hl. Nikolaus'' (pp. 177-179). Published by the Bundesdenkmalamt, Verlag Anton Schroll & Co, Wien 1983. In the city fires of 1348, 1396 and 1460 the original Romanesque church building was badly damaged. In 1478 it was rebuilt under the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Hans Sturm, who added a new Late Gothic nave and

gable roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The pitch of a gable roof ca ...

; the new building was dedicated in the same year. In 1479 the church tower to the north was completed. The present choir was built around 1520 with a somewhat lower gable roof. There are also

sacristies A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

, a Lady Chapel and a

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

al chapel, both with monopitch roofs.

References

{{Authority control Roman Catholic cathedrals in Austria Feldkirch, Vorarlberg Roman Catholic churches completed in 1478 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Austria