Merano Magazine - Sommer 2010

Wallfahrtskirche zum hl. felix, marling
Places for the soul
Millions of people set out on a
pilgrimage to Lourdes, Fatima or
Altötting in Bavaria every year in
the hope that they will be cured,
their suffering will be lessened, or
that they will receive a blessing.
It is still uncertain whether these
places have their own power and
beneficial energy, or whether it
is the people themselves who invigorate
the places so that the
therapeutic effects of the places
are awakened. In South Tyrol – together
with Madonna di Pietralba
in Val d‘Ega/Maria Weißenstein im
Eggental, Santa Maria in Alta Pusteria/Aufkirchen
im Hochpustertal
and the Church of Nostra Signora
in Bressanone/Frauenkirche in
Brixen – the Santa Maria Addolorata
sanctuary in Rifiano/Riffian
belongs to one of the most evocative
areas in this region.
The pilgrimage takes us to the Passo
Palade/Gampenpass and then
on to the small hamlet of Madonna
di Senale/Unsere liebe Frau im
Walde (1,342 m), the second most
famous place of pilgrimage in the
area around Merano.
Temples and churches have always
been built in “evocative locations”.
We don’t know what knowledge
and what experience prompted
our ancestors to build in these
locations, but due to their positions
which make for breathtaking
views, Sant‘Ippolito in Tesimo/St.
Hyppolit in Tisens and Santa Caterina
in Val Senales/St. Katharina
im Schnalstal really seem to be
buildings of regal calibre. On the
way back to Merano, our pilgrimage
takes us to a hill above Scena/
Schenna. Nestling in alpine meadows
and fruit orchards we come
across the little Romanesque chapel
of San Giorgio/St. Georg. And
then a few kilometers as the crow
flies, we find the Sant‘Osvaldo/
St. Oswald chapel at 2,150 metres
above sea level at the mountain
resort of Meran/o 2000, below the
peaks of Mount Ivigna/Ifinger.