Pankrazkapelle bei Maierhof

In the old Niederkeßla area of today's municipality of St. Aegidi, there is still much talk of the Pankrazkirche church and the well with healing water. The Pankrazkirche was built around 1000 years ago in honour of St. Pankrazius, the patron saint of the nobility, and became an important pilgrimage church as a branch church of the Engelszell monastery. Every year on the Sunday after St Peter and St Paul, a veritable stream of pilgrims poured into the church until the 18th century. Many pilgrims came on horseback, sometimes as many as 3,000. Emperor Joseph II closed the church in 1784 and it was cleared for demolition. In place of the mighty church today stands a small chapel with a domed roof, inside which the water bubbles merrily. The spring rises under the altar and flows into a moss-covered granite grander. This water is very fresh and has a slightly bitter flavour. It is considered to be healing for humans and animals, which is why visitors come all the time to bottle it. The site on the edge of the "Kößlbachtal" nature reserve has a special aura and conveys complete peace and tranquillity