Chapter 29 - St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna

St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna is one of the most beautiful churches I've ever seen in my life. It is one of the primary symbols of Austria and is on the back of the 10 cent Euro coin. Construction began in 1147 on the site of an ancient Roman cemetery, and building continued until 1511 with renovations occurring almost continually to the modern day. Part of the cathedral is currently covered with canvas, and they've painted on the canvas the features behind it.

St. Stephen's, or Stephansdom as it is lovingly called by Austrians, has had a fascinating history. Not just a church, it was the main observation and command post for the defense of the walled city during the Siege of Vienna in 1529 and the Battle of Vienna [against the Turks] in 1683. A watchman ran a bell for fires until 1955.

Stephansdom was built of white limestone which the soot and air pollution of centuries has turned black. The most recent restoration is gradually returning it to its original white. It has 18 altars in the main part of the cathedral and six chapels. The main door is called the Giant's Door after the thighbone of a mastodon that hung over it for decades after being found in 1443. The cathedral is 351 feet long and 111.5 feet wide. It has been featured in many movies, notably the thriller, "The Third Man."

One of the most interesting things is the tour of the catacombs that Kate and I took - Bob decided to sit that one out but later wished he had gone along. It is a vast area of chambers and dimly-lit, winding tunnels. In the bishops crypt lie the graves of provosts of the cathedral. In the ducal crypt are 78 bronze containers containing body parts, mainly entrails, of 72 Habsburgs. That seemed beyond disgusting to Kate and me, but the guide explained that different sites want to be able to say they have the remains of Habsburgs. So the hearts are primarily in the Hofburg Palace, the entrails at Stephansdom, and the main part of the corpses in various places. I presume you noticed the same math that I did - 78 containers and 72 Habsburgs. I can think of any number of reasons for that discrepancy, all of them less than appetizing, and we didn't receive any official explanation.

As I recounted in a previous blog, there is a dungeon-like chamber with the skeletons of 600 Black Death victims. Then the guide told us how in the 1700s the smell from so many bodies buried beneath the church began to waft into the sanctuary itself, nauseating churchgoers. So the king ordered that prisoners open every tomb, clean every bone and fill another dungeon-like room with the bones. I tried hard not to imagine that task. That would not have been the year to commit larceny! The walls are stacked with cemented bones with skulls dotted here and there, and a huge heap of bones lies in the middle of the chamber. I was so disappointed they didn't allow pictures in the catacombs, but I later found this one of the bone chamber.


Today the cathedral is more than a museum; it is a living, breathing church. Masses and other services are held daily, baptisms are held in a special chapel. I imagine that weddings and funerals are also held there. The pictures are a mix of the two times we were there.

Standing in Stephansplatz, looking at the cathedral.


That's Ljuba and me in the foreground.




Bob and Kate in Stephansplatz.


Three pictures of the main altar area.






I'm standing near an altar from the 1500s.


Various pictures of the interior. The pictures are dark,
but then it's very dim inside.








The inscription says, "1513."


This is a tomb from the 1500s.


This is one of the side doors; this is the one we
exited from after the tour of the catacombs.


This is one of the many friezes on the exterior.