The abbey of Muri-Gries (in German Abtei Muri-Gries) forms, together with the adjoining church of Sant'Agostino, a single complex belonging to the Benedictine monks of the abbey of Muri in Aargau, in Switzerland; although in Italy, for historical reasons it belongs to the Swiss Benedictine Congregation.
What to see
The abbey stands in the very centre of the historic district of Gries, in Bolzano, on the square of the same name, next to the Baroque church of Sant'Agostino, which dates from 1769: the two buildings are the characteristic feature of the district. In the Romanesque tower, the old keep, there is a collection of antique nativity scenes, the Nativity Scene Museum (Krippenmuseum), with an exhibition of the present artistic production of nativity scenes in South Tyrol and folk-art figures; the oldest nativity scene dates from 1750, and the museum can be visited in the Christmas and pre-Christmas period. The tower carries a notable set of nine bells hung in the «Tyrolean swing» manner, a characteristic ringing system used in the area; the largest bell, called the Augustinusglocke, weighs over five tonnes and is considered musically an excellent bell: it was cast by the Chiappani foundry of Trento in 1895. Gries is famous for Lagrein, and since 1788 a winery, the Stiftskellerei, has been active in the abbey, where a wooden press of 1549 is kept. The abbey also has an important historical archive, a notable photographic collection tied above all to the figure of Ambros Trafojer and a rich historical library, fully computerised.
The complex, of the 12th and 13th centuries, was originally the princely castle of Gries, a territory which, unlike the historic core of Bolzano, was under the direct control of the counts of Tyrol and not of the prince-bishop of Trent; the keep of the walls is today the bell tower. On 22 February 1406 Archduke Leopold IV of Habsburg gave the castle to the Augustinian canons, after the forced abandonment of the convent of Santa Maria in Augia, whose remains can be seen in the Don Bosco district. After the secularisation of 1807 the complex stood empty; when in 1841 the Swiss monasteries were suppressed, Emperor Ferdinand I offered the monks of Muri a home at Gries, in the old Augustinian convent. Today the complex is an important cultural centre of the district.
Visiting
The abbey is at Gries, on the square of the same name; times for the winery, the church and the nativity museum should be checked with the abbey, because the sources consulted say only that the museum can be visited in the Christmas and pre-Christmas period.
Our editors' tip
If you go before Christmas, look for the Nativity Scene Museum in the Romanesque tower: it keeps a nativity scene of 1750, the oldest in the collection, next to the work of today's artists.
