The St. Barbara's Chapel () is a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

located in the town of

Merano Merano (, ; ) or Meran () is a (municipality) in South Tyrol, Northern Italy. Generally best known for its Spa town, spa resorts, it is located within a Depression (geology), basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to Height above mean sea ...

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

, northern Italy. The chapel stands right behind the

St. Nicholas' Church, Merano The St. Nicholas' Church (; ) or Duomo di Merano is the parish church of the town of Merano in South Tyrol, northern Italy. It was built in the 13th century and dedicated to Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of the town. It is located at the end ...

. The layout of the chapel is

octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...

. It was built by the architect Hans von Burghausen in 1450, who also designed the Hospital Church. The chapel served as the burial chapel of the town for many centuries until the cemetery was moved to another location in 1848. The basement served as the

ossuary An ossuary is a chest, box, building, well, or site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains. They are frequently used where burial space is scarce. A body is first buried in a temporary grave, then after some years th ...

while the main floor was used for religious ceremonies and prayers. It features a number of wooden pews and a wooden Gothic

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

, flanked by two altars from the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

period. Outside the entrance has a painting depicting

Saint Christopher Saint Christopher (, , ; ) is venerated by several Christian denominations. According to these traditions, he was a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Decius (), or alternatively under the emperor Maximin ...

External links

Tourist Office of Merano , The Chapel of Saint Barbara
Buildings and structures completed in 1450 Churches completed in the 1450s 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Churches in South Tyrol Merano {{TrentinoAltoAdige-RC-church-stub