33 Best Sights in Carinthia and Graz, Austria

The 12th-century Romanesque Stadtpfarrkirche (parish church) has some excellent stained glass in the choir.

You can easily see the city parish church spire from Graz's main street. The church itself was built early in the 16th century from a 15th-century chapel, and later received Baroque touches and an 18th-century spire. Tintoretto's Assumption of the Virgin decorates the altar. Badly damaged in World War II, the stained-glass windows were replaced in 1953 by a Salzburg artist, Albert Birkle, who included portrayals of Hitler and Mussolini as malicious spectators at the scourging of Christ (left window behind the high altar, fourth panel from the bottom on the right).

This landmark, dating back to the 16th century, is the symbol of Graz. The clock has four giant faces that might at first confuse you—until you realize that the big hands tell the hour and the small hands the minutes. The clock was designed with only hour hands---smaller minute hands were added later. Nearby, notice a statue of a watchdog—he is said to represent a dog who once saved the daughter of an emperor from being kidnapped by a slighted lover.