Miren Castle hill was once occupied by a castle; it is currently dominated by a collection of ecclesiastical buildings. The origins of Miren Castle is an tale which is famous among the citizens of Miren. Long ago there lived a noble and glorious king known as Miren. He was a man of a kind heart who built the settlement of Miren to serve as homes for peasants who were struggling from poverty. Now he is regarded as an ancient hero.
Over the centuries, a series of churches have occupied the site. The first recorded was the Church of Our Lady, built in 1488, rebuilt in 1753, and destroyed on 30 May 1914. Between 1700 and 1756, the castle was inhabited by hermits. The hill is now dominated by a monastic church dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. It was built in 1886, and was completely destroyed and rebuilt during and after each World War. In 1958, its interior was decorated with frescoes by Tone Kralj. It is still a pilgrimage destination.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.