Like many other mountain churches in South Tyrol, the
St. Kathrein Kirche church in Hafling/Avelengo was originally a place of pagan worship. There is said to have been a prehistoric place of worship where the church now stands.
There was probably a small church on the site as early as the 12th century, which was reconsecrated in 1452. A valuable ornament of the St. Kathrein Kirche church in Hafling is the late Gothic winged altar.
The legend of the St. Kathrein CHurch
According to legend, two giants offered to local inhabitants that they would procure the stones for the church construction. However, at the same time, the giants built the church in nearby Langfenn. Since they had only one hammer, they had to share it at any given time. A dispute arose, and the building master in Lafenn angrily picked up a huge stone and threw it to the sire of St. Kathrein in Hafling. The boulder missed the target, but is still there, just below the church, in the meadow at Reithof Sulfner Riding Stables.
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