Klein-Mariazell Abbey

The Klein-Mariazell Abbey refers to the former Benedictine monastery in the monastery settlement of Klein-Mariazell in the market town of Altenmarkt an der Triesting in Lower Austria. The building is a protected monument.

The Babenberg Margrave Leopold III the Saint founded the Klein-Mariazell Abbey alongside Heiligenkreuz Abbey and Klosterneuburg Abbey (1108). The abbey church Basilica of Klein-Mariazell corresponded to the then typical basilica in a bound system with transept, choir square, and three apses.

Due to its peripheral geographical location, difficult economic situation, and repeated destructions and crises, the monastery achieved relatively little significance. From the 18th century, the pilgrimage route from Vienna to the Basilica of Mariazell in Styria mainly led via Heiligenkreuz Abbey and, following the Triesting Valley, via Lilienfeld and Annaberg to Mariazell, and less frequently through the Klein-Mariazell side valley. The monastery experienced a final flourishing under Abbot Jakob Pach (1752–1782), who baroque-styled the abbey church, and ended in 1782 with the dissolution of the monastery under Emperor Joseph II.