The Collegiate Church of San Candido is the finest example of Romanic architecture in the Eastern Alps.
Construction began around 1143 when the Benedictine Convent of San Candido founded in the 8th Century by Bavarian Duke Tassilo the 3rd was transformed into a Collegiate Church. The Church assumed its present form around 1280, while the bell tower dates back to between 1320 and 1326. The monumental walls recall the style of the fortresses favoured by the Crusaders and the many fortified citadels built in the days of the Hohenstaufen. The Church itself may be likened to a fortress of God.