Santa Maddalena - St. Magdalena

Santa Maddalena - St. Magdalena is a Roman Catholic church among vineyards in the Prazöll area of Bolzano, South Tyrol. A rectangular nave, measuring six by nine and a half metres, leads east to a small apse. Above the apse rises a bell tower with a pointed stone roof and pointed-arch sound windows.

The church first appears in documents from 1295, after the surrounding area had known settlement since prehistoric times. Around 1370, builders added the barrel vault and painters created a second layer of frescoes across the nave. The apse preserves an earlier Majestas Domini from around 1300, with Christ, the Evangelists’ symbols, the twelve apostles and Mary Magdalene. Upper sections of the Passion cycle remain visible, alongside ten scenes from the legend of Mary Magdalene.

A Renaissance portal was added in 1627, while Oswald Krad created the Baroque high altar in 1667. The altar now stands against the west wall, showing the penitent Magdalene between twisted columns decorated with vine leaves and putti. On the tower wall, Saint Christopher and the Madonna with Child remain unwhitewashed and exceptionally well preserved.