Three Churches Path: Weiten - Maria Laach

The fortified church of St. Stephen, which is also the mother parish of the Southern Waldviertel, is one of the most impressive church buildings in Lower Austria. Weiten and the church including the parish were already founded in the 11th century and were located in the core area of historic Austria under the Babenbergs. The Gothic nave with its Romanesque core was surrounded by a defensive wall in the 15th century. Particularly valuable are the Gothic stained-glass windows from the 14th century. Also noteworthy are the archway under the sacristy and the freestanding church tower.

Maria Laach is dominated by its pilgrimage church of the Visitation of Mary. The monumental stepped hall building from the 15th century is one of the most valuable late Gothic buildings in Austria. The church is one of the rare cases that was not baroque-ized and was able to preserve its Gothic interior. 1680 was the third major plague year of this century; the entire southern Waldviertel vowed to make a pilgrimage to Maria Laach every year. After the miraculous healing of a blind child in 1719, the number of pilgrims increased steadily. The image of grace "Maria Six Finger", the Gothic double-wing altar, and the Renaissance tomb of the noble Hans Georg von Kufstein from 1607 are the church's most valuable artifacts.