Here it is, a blank screen before me — unable to express the images of Mintraching from my head to the page. That happens more than you know, and usually when it’s a place as pretty as this.
What can I say, the Upper Palatinate has that effect on me.
For the most part, Mintraching itself is a place of over two dozen villages, just 17km southeast of the city of Regensburg. Close enough to enjoy city life, yet might as well be miles away from the hustle and bustle. Mintraching is quiet and scenic with its wayside chapels, and even gets to boast a castle ruin.
Sweet… nothing like the Middle Ages to appreciate today’s indoor plumbing. I joke, but there’s nothing like a proper medieval castle. Well, the Burgstall Haidau used to be a castle, that was until it was destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War. A sad end for this 13th century creation, yet these days it’s an archaeological site.
Also from the medieval period around here is the Church of Saints Peter & Paul in the village of Mangolding. You’ll find this original 13th century church along the appropriately named Kirchstraße, which is also where you’ll find a medieval Jewish gravestone.
The village of Roith also gets to boast its own medieval church, found at Sankt Georg Weg 1, if you’re interested.
Some of Mintaching’s other village churches came along a few centuries later — but that shouldn’t stop you from looking at them. The Church of St. Florian (in Rosenhof) might be simplistic in its design, but it’s still pretty. And the Pilgrimage Church of St. Mary (in Scheuer) has managed to blend Gothic, Baroque, and Rococo art and architecture just beautifully.
Be sure to add the Pfarrkirche of Saints Peter & Clement (a medieval/Baroque one) to your itinerary, as well as the Church of St. Giles in the village of Sankt Gilla. The latter village, by the way, has a very pretty 19th century castle, as well.
Oh, sure all these old churches are grand, but none of them are as old as the Villa Rustica found around these parts — and they’re certainly not anywhere as old as the Neolithic graves found, either.
Maybe they were discovered because Mintraching falls within the Danube Floodplain… but I think it’s ’cause folks just wanted to explore around the fresh Bavarian countryside.
Who wouldn’t… which might explain why I’m sitting here daydreaming about it. ;-)