Michaelskirche (Church of St Michael)

Royal resting place - Munich's Michaelskirche

What’s not there in this Jesuit church is what makes it remarkable.

The Church of St Michael is topped with a wide barrel-vaulted ceiling that holds despite its lack of supporting columns. The only ceiling of its kind that’s bigger is at Rome’s St Peter’s Cathedral.

COUNTER OFFENSIVE: The church was built in response to the Reformation. Photo by Gaspa

The chuch's crypt is the final resting place of Bavaria’s fairy-tale king Ludwig II and other ruling Wittlesbachs, as well as the son of Napoleon’s wife Josephine.

Battles of belief

The church was built 1583 to 1588 by Duke Wilhelm V as part of the Counter Reformation movement.

This was a Catholic-led effort to battle the wave of descent started by Marin Luther.

He’d declared the Catholic Church rotten to the core and paved the way for the creation of the Lutheran and Protestant churches.

There’s a statue of archangel Michael battling the Devil (love the hoofed feet!) between the two entrance portals. Further up on the façade are more bronze statues, which was being restored in 2009.

AIR SUPPORT: There's a refreshing lack of interior columns.

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