Serfaus: Churches and Local History
Accommodation in Serfaus
Serfaus offers several ways to explore its local history: sacred buildings, archaeological evidence and the cultural trail, which also covers agriculture, mining and the beginnings of modern tourism. If you are planning a stay and would like to learn about the character of the place as well as practical details, these themes provide a clear point of reference. The historical timeline stretches from a Christian community in the 5th/6th century to the beginnings of modern tourism. The churches, meanwhile, reveal different architectural and artistic histories.
Churches and historical traces
The parish church of the Assumption of Mary is Late Gothic and was built around 1500. The pilgrimage church “Our Lady in the Woods” in Serfaus brings together Early Christian, Romanesque and Gothic elements from different building periods. During renovations in the early 1960s, fragments of 14th-century frescoes were also uncovered there. This allows the building phases and a dated example of wall painting to be considered as distinct aspects of church history.
Recent grave finds in Serfaus show that a Christian community already existed there in the 5th/6th century. The Christian community and the building phases of the churches shed light on different aspects of Serfaus’s religious history.
The cultural trail offers insights into centuries of land use for agriculture and mining, sacred sites and historic inns, as well as the beginnings of modern tourism. Its range of topics therefore goes beyond church history. The cultural trail provides a broad historical framework for exploring Serfaus, while individual churches and their architectural histories offer a closer look at particular periods.
Chapels, local history and getting around
The history of Muiren Chapel is tied to a specific event: during the plague of 1634/35, the municipality of Serfaus made a vow to build it and began construction of the plague chapel, also known as Muiren Chapel. In 1637, Muiren Chapel was consecrated by Anton Crosini, Auxiliary Bishop of Brixen. This sequence gives the chapel’s history a clear timeline without treating the plague, the start of construction and the later consecration as a single event.
Muiren Hill offers panoramic views and is an important place to experience local history. For a different, more focused way to explore a single theme, a 450-metre-long meditation trail starts at the Hög Family Light Chapel: seven sculptures artistically depict the Lord’s Prayer. The chapels and meditation trail thus offer different ways to engage with sacred themes—one through historical events, the other through artistic interpretation.
The Serfaus underground railway is also part of getting around town. It can transport up to 3,000 people per hour at a whisper-quiet pace to the cable car’s valley station and is free, quiet and emission-free. If you plan to ride the Serfauser Sauser, you can get tickets directly at the attraction’s starting point or at the cable car ticket office in Serfaus. Check seasonal opening times before travelling.
Discover more destinations: Kaunertal, Landeck, Schönwies, Kaunerberg, Zams, Piller, Sankt Jakob Am Arlberg.
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