Daughter Church of St. Magdalene in Viums

The church hill in Viums was inhabited all the way back in prehistoric times. The romantic Church of St. Magdalene is one of the most beautiful places of worship in the area. The current building and the remainder of the tower, which date to 1500, were built atop the foundation of a church that had been dedicated in 1281; the tower expansion occurred in the seventeenth century. The stump does not rise immediately adjacent to the church but above the sacristy building. In 1989 the tower was re-covered with larch shingles; in the early 90s the interior of the church was completely restored. The entire interior space of the chapel has a network of ribbed vaulting, with square keystones and delicately contoured ribs that sit on thin consoles adorned with little shields. The gallery dates from around 1780; the parapet is painted with foliage and floral ornaments. Local South Tyrolean historian Joseph Rampold (1925–2007) even referred to the Church of St. Magdalene as the most beautiful church on the Natz Plateau.