Page 150 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Vienna

148  VIENNA AREA B Y AREA BEL VEDERE QU AR TER  149

1 Karlskirche VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
Karlsplatz, A-1040.
During Vienna’s plague epidemic in 1713, Emperor Karl VI Map 4 E2. Tel 5056294.
@ 4A. Open 9am–6pm Mon–
vowed that as soon as the city was delivered from its plight Sat, noon–7pm Sun & hols.
he would build a church dedicated to St Charles Borromeo 5 6pm Mon–Sat, 11am &
(1538–84), a former Archbishop of Milan who was 6pm Sun & hols.
& 9 e to cupola.
celebrated for the help he gave plague sufferers. The ∑ karlskirche.at
following year he announced a competition to design the
church, which was won by the architect Johann Bernhard Transport
% Karlsplatz.
Fischer von Erlach. The result was a richly eclectic Baroque The Pulpit
masterpiece: the gigantic dome and portico are borrowed Two putti
from the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome, while surmount the . Frescoes in the Cupola Johann Bernhard
there are Oriental echoes in the gatehouses and minaret- canopy of the Johann Michael Rottmayr’s Fischer von Erlach
fresco, painted between 1725 and
richly gilded
like columns. Building took almost 25 years, and the pulpit, decorated 1730, depicts the Apotheosis of Many of Vienna’s finest build-
interior was richly embellished with carvings and with rocailles and St Charles Borromeo. It was the ings, including the Trautson
altarpieces by the foremost artists of the day, including flower garlands. painter’s last commission. and Schönbrunn Palaces, were
Daniel Gran and Martino Altomonte. designed by Fischer von Erlach
(1656–1723). He died before he
finished the Karlskirche and his
son completed it in 1737.

. The Two Columns
Inspired by Trajan’s Column in Rome,
. High Altar they are decorated with spiralling scenes
The high altar features a stucco of St Charles Borromeo’s life. Qualities of
relief by Albert Camesina showing Steadfastness are illustrated on the left,
St Charles Borromeo being and Courage on the right.
assumed into heaven on a cloud
laden with angels and putti.
Visitor entrance
and tickets
KEY
1 Angel representing the
Old Testament
2 Pediment reliefs by Giovanni
Stanetti show the suffering of the
Viennese during the 1713 plague.
3 The two gatehouses leading
into the side entrances of the church
are reminiscent of Chinese pavilions.
4 Stairway (closed to public) St Charles Borromeo
5 Cupola Cross Lorenzo Mattielli’s statue
6 Angel representing the of the saint crowns
New Testament the pediment.
Main entrance

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