One of the great baroque church interiors in the Alps, and the most important Catholic pilgrimage site in Switzerland. The current building dates from the early 18th century, designed by the monk-architect Caspar Moosbrugger over a decades-long project. The scale hits you the moment you enter — the nave stretches nearly 100 metres, every surface covered in frescoes, stucco, and gilded ornament by the Asam brothers of Munich.
At the west end of the nave, before you reach the main altar, stands the Chapel of Grace — a free-standing black marble structure housing the Black Madonna. The statue, dressed in elaborate robes that are changed according to the liturgical calendar, has drawn pilgrims since the medieval period. The atmosphere around it is something apart from the rest of the church: candles, murmured prayers, people from across Catholic Europe. Non-pilgrims are welcome and the monks expect a mix of visitors. Entry is free.
The abbey complex also includes a monastery, a princely library with some 250,000 volumes, and an operational printing house — the Benziger press — that has been printing religious material here for centuries. The large cobbled square in front of the church was designed to hold large crowds on pilgrimage feast days, and it still fills up on September 14 for the Feast of the Miraculous Dedication.