Maria Saal (Slovene: Gospa Sveta) is a settlement in the district of Klagenfurt-Land in the Austrian state of Carinthia. It is located in the east of the historic Zollfeld plain (Slovene: Gosposvetsko polje), the wide valley of the Glan River.
The landmark of Maria Saal pilgrimage church »Marienkiche« (Slovene: Cerkev Marijinega vnebovzetja, Gospa Sveta) is built in a seemingly transitional style from Romanesque to Gothic. Not much remains from the Romanesque church that had replaced the bishop's church of Modestus and his successors. The present fortified church building goes back to the mid-15th century and is in high Gothic style, actually reconstructed within 20 years after the big fire of 1669.
In view of the church's predecessor, which, as the church of Bishop Modestus, was the religious center of Carinthia in the 8th century and practically an episcopal see until 945, the present church is popularly still called a "Dom", i.e. "cathedral", which it, of course, has never been. The Roman sarcophagus beneath the church is said to contain the remains of Modestus. Still today, however, it is a major pilgrimage site for both German- and Slovene-speaking Christians.
The Zollfeld valley has been a cultural and political centre since Celtic tribes settled in the region. When their kingdom of Noricum had become a province of the Roman Empire in 15 BC, Emperor Claudius had the city of Virunum erected as the province's capital at the foot of the nearby Magdalensberg. Virunum became a centre of Early Christianity in the early 4th century as the see of a bishop under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Aquileia.
When the Slavic ancestors of Slovenes entered the region in 6th century, they settled in a place called Krnski grad (Karnburg) close to Virunum, which became the administrative centre of their Carantania principality – the world's first Slavic state. Here the ritual of installing the princes took place on the Prince's Stone. The ceremony was continued in Slovene language long into the Middle Ages – until the 15th century.
The second Christianization of the area began at about 767 under Bishop Vergilius of Salzburg. His missionary Modestus had the first church of the Assumption of Mary built at Maria Saal/Gospa Sveta as the centre of his missionary activities. Christianity was spread all over Carantania from this bishop's church.
External Link: Official Parish Website