Cappella di Santa Barbara, Merano

The chapel of Santa Barbara is located in Merano, South Tyrol, and rises behind the apse of the city cathedral, dedicated to San Nicolò. Originally this building was intended as the funeral chapel of the cemetery which until 1848 surrounded the main church of the city. The first news of the cemetery dates back to 1335, but a chapel dedicated to San Michele was built only in the 13th century. The current building, which dates back to a reconstruction of the years between 1420 and 1440, has an octagonal structure on two floors and a pyramid roof. The upper floor, open to the public and accessible through two Gothic portals with six steps, consists of a single room with a ribbed vault. In it there are three altars: the altar of the Immaculate Conception with the Child Jesus - a work by Mathias Pussjäger dating back to 1769 -, a Gothic altar with doors from the fifteenth century from Germany and, finally, the altar dedicated to Santa Barbara, dating back to in the seventeenth century and commissioned by the brotherhood of coopers - again by Mathias Pussjäger -, to which side statues were later added - works by Gregor Schwenzengast. The lower floor, originally intended as an ossuary, consists of a vaulted room supported by four granite columns.

Beautiful place of prayer, in front of the protector of many categories of workers.