In the 15th and 16th century, Hall in Tirol was one of the most important towns in the Habsburg Empire. This period saw the construction of many of the churches, monasteries and convents that still shape the appearance of the town. Today Hall has the biggest intact old town in the western part of Austria.
1567 saw the founding of Hall Convent and the neighbouring Jesuit monastery. Before then the Augustinian monastery was near the Salvatorkirche. This was followed by the opening of the Franciscan Monastery (1645) and the Poor Clare Monastery (1723) near what is now the psychiatric hospital. Of the two monasteries, only the Franciscan Monastery remains today. Other orders were founded in the 19th century: the Sisters of the Holy Cross, the Sisters of Charity and the Salesian Sisters.
References:The church of the former Franciscan monastery was built probably between 1515 and 1520. It is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Rauma. The church stands by the small stream of Raumanjoki (Rauma river).
The exact age of the Church of the Holy Cross is unknown, but it was built to serve as the monastery church of the Rauma Franciscan Friary. The monastery had been established in the early 15th century and a wooden church was built on this location around the year 1420.
The Church of the Holy Cross served the monastery until 1538, when it was abandoned for a hundred years as the Franciscan friary was disbanded in the Swedish Reformation. The church was re-established as a Lutheran church in 1640, when the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity was destroyed by fire.
The choir of the two-aisle grey granite church features medieval murals and frescoes. The white steeple of the church was built in 1816 and has served as a landmark for seafarers.