Princely Abbey of Corvey

Abbey church of Corvey
The Westwork of Corvey Abbey
Religion
Affiliation	Catholic
Year consecrated	844
Location
Municipality	Höxter
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Shown within Germany Show map of Germany Princely Abbey of Corvey (North Rhine-Westphalia) Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia
Geographic coordinates	51°46′44″N 9°24′34″E / 51.77885°N 9.40943°E / 51.77885; 9.40943
Architecture
Style	Carolingian, High Romanesque, Baroque
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name: Carolingian Westwork and Civitas Corvey
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, iv
Designated	2014 (38th session)
Reference no.	1447
State Party	Germany
Region	Europe and North America
Property	12 ha (30 acres)
Buffer zone	69 ha (170 acres)

500m
550yds

Abbey church of Corvey

  

Abbey church of Corvey

The Princely Abbey of Corvey (German: Fürststift Corvey or Fürstabtei Corvey) is a former Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling princely abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire from the Late Middle Ages until 1792 when Corvey was elevated to a prince-bishopric. Corvey, whose territory extended over a vast area, was in turn secularized in 1803 in the course of the German mediatisation and absorbed into the newly created Principality of Nassau-Orange-Fulda. Originally built in 822 and 885 and remodeled in the Baroque period, the abbey is an exceptional example of Carolingian architecture, the oldest surviving example of a westwork, and the oldest standing medieval structure in Westphalia.^[1] The original architecture of the abbey, with its vaulted hall and galleries encircling the main room, heavily influenced later western Romanesque and Gothic architecture. The inside of the westwork contains the only known wall paintings of ancient mythology with Christian interpretation in Carolingian times.^[1] The former abbey church was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014.^[1]