St. Jakob Church in Kastelaz

The most prominent artwork of Tramin and at the same time one of the finest masterpieces of Tyrolean art can be found in the small St. Jakob church situated on a hill above the village.

It contains a well- preserved Romanescue fresco cycle dating back to about 1220. The figures portrayedin the colourful frescoes are quite atypical in painting since they are usually represented as stone sculptures. In fact, on the walls of the small chancel you can admire bizarre hybrid creatures with both human an beastly attributes, fabulous figures emanating from the myths of medieval times. They all seem to represent the sinful antagonism of the overlying scenes showing a graceful depiction of the Twelve Apostels with the enthroned Crist in the Mandorla, the almond- shaped aureole.

The southern annex of the chapel contains yet another jewel: here the painter Ambrosius Gander executed some bright and valuable murals, amongst which the well-known legend of the Pilgrims. The inscription tells us that these paintings were completed 1441.