Page 64 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2016 - Austria

62  VIenn A AR e A by AR e A

3 Stephansdom . Giants’
Doorway
Situated in 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 the twin Towers
is mainly late-Gothic in style – the only fragments of the Heathens,
remaining of the original 13th-century stands on the
site of an earlier
Romanesque church are the Giants’ Doorway and heathen shrine.
the Towers of the 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 Entrance to the
Habsburgs – other body parts were kept catacombs
elsewhere in Vienna.

. 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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