Several clearly distinct themes come together in Guttaring: churches with different building phases, two hiking trails and the geological Field of Stone Lenses. You can plan your stay around a cultural, religious or natural-history focus. The specific features range from a Baroque high altar to fossil nummulites.
Churches with Different Building Phases
Guttaring Church was first mentioned in a document in 1160. It is a Romanesque chancel-tower church that was enlarged in the Late Gothic period. Its imposing Baroque high altar, dating from around 1720, features a two-storey columned structure. This church thus brings together a Romanesque ground plan, a later extension and Baroque furnishings.
The focus is different at the pilgrimage church of Maria-Hilf: Construction of the stone church began in 1721, and it was completed as a unified Baroque complex in 1727. The high altar is attributed to Johann Pacher. Compared with Guttaring Church, the emphasis here is on the overall Baroque complex, while the latter combines several building phases.
Other Churches and Their Features
The small Church of St. Gertrude stands on a hill and is surrounded by a wall. It combines Romanesque and Gothic features. Its tabernacle altar is adorned with carved figures of Saints Gertrude, Barbara and Catherine. Its described features therefore differ from the high altars of the other churches in both location and furnishings.
Deinsberg Church is the parish church of Saint James and Saint Anne. It is surrounded by a former fortified cemetery wall. A Late Romanesque charnel house stands to the northeast of the church. The pilgrimage church of Maria Waitschach was first mentioned in 1390. It is a Late Gothic hall church with a west tower resembling a roof turret and a strongly recessed choir. Its architectural form offers a different accent from Guttaring’s chancel-tower church or the Baroque complex of Maria-Hilf.
Hiking Trails and Geological Features
The Seven Churches Trail offers another way to experience Guttaring: this spiritual hike passes through beautiful landscapes to seven historic churches, offering cultural and religious insights. The Guild Trail also passes through Guttaring and is one of the Görtschitztal valley’s seven “Mysterious Trails.” The two routes are described using different names and classifications; the Seven Churches Trail explicitly highlights its connection to historic churches.
The “Field of Stone Lenses” lies between Guttaring and St. Gertraud and is a geological curiosity. Fossil nummulites are easy to find there. The market town of Guttaring had a wooden information sign erected in front of the field. The field adds a natural-history focus to the themes of churches and hiking trails: geological formations and fossils are the focus here, rather than building history or church furnishings.
If you would like to plan your stay around a particular theme, there are several options: the churches’ building phases and altars, the spiritual hike to historic churches, or the geological curiosity between Guttaring and St. Gertraud. The features described help distinguish these interests without combining the sites or trails into a single tour.
Discover more destinations: Althofen, Liebenfels, Sadin, Treffling, Hüttenberg, Mölbling, Flattnitz, Eberstein.
For the broader travel overview: Sankt Veit An Der Glan.
