Page 64 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Austria

62  VIENNA AREA B Y AREA

3 Stephansdom . Giants’
Doorway
Marking the centre of Vienna, the cathedral, This masterpiece of
dedicated to the first Christian martyr, St Stephen, late-Romanesque
art, with its richly
is the very soul of the city. Although built on this carved portal and
site some 800 years ago, the present building is the twin Towers
mainly late-Gothic – the only fragments remaining of the Heathens,
of the original 13th-century Romanesque church stands on the
site of an earlier
are the Giants’ Doorway and the Towers of the heathen shrine.
Heathens. Largely destroyed during World War II,
the cathedral was restored to its former glory by
the efforts of the entire nation. In a vault beneath
its main altar are urns containing the internal
organs of some of the Habsburgs – other body Entrance to the
parts were interred elsewhere in Vienna. catacombs

. Cathedral’s Pulpit
The pulpit in the main nave
is decorated with portraits
of the Four Fathers of the
Church. The sculptor himself
looks on from a “window”
below, under the stairs.

KEY
1 The North Tower houses the
Pummerin Bell.
2 The Bronze Sphere is crowned
with a twin-headed eagle – the
Habsburg emblem.
3 Viewing platform, at 72 m
(236 ft)
4 The mosaic roof is covered with
almost 250,000 glazed tiles.
5 Lifts to the bell
6 Singer Gate was at one time
the entrance for male visitors. The
superb sculptures depict scenes
from the life of St Paul and Duke Main entrance
Rudolf IV the Founder.

For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp292–3 and pp310–12

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