Attraction Chapels in Leutasch

A valley with 22 chapels, a wayside shrine, and numerous wayside crosses – this is how the Leutasch Valley presents itself.

Description

A valley with 22 chapels, a small wayside shrine, and numerous wayside crosses – this is how the Leutasch Valley presents itself: Impressive numbers, considering that at the time when most of the chapels were built, the valley had fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. The main reason why there are so many chapels in the Leutasch Valley, which are witnesses to the lived popular piety, is the size or expansion of the community over more than 16 kilometers.

The hamlets in Leutasch were and still are more or less far from the two parish churches. (St. Magdalena in Oberleutasch or St. John the Baptist) Thus, almost every hamlet built a chapel to hold summer evening devotions (Rosaries) together nearby. However, the chapel bells had many other functions: When someone from the respective hamlet passed away, this was indicated by the funeral toll. The weather and storm bell ringing was intended to warn residents in a time when there were no weather forecasts on television or radio of impending storms in good time.