Page 76 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Vienna

74  VIENNA AREA B Y AREA STEPHANSDOM QU AR TER  75

1 Stephansdom . Steffl or Spire VISITORS’ CHECKLIST
The 137­m high
Situated in the centre of Vienna, the Stephansdom is the soul (450­ft) Gothic Practical Information
spire is a famous
of the city, and its towers, crypt and altars are the number- landmark. From the Stephansplatz 1, A­1010. Map 2
one tourist attraction in Vienna. A church has stood on the Sexton’s Lodge (see E5 & 6 D3. Tel 515 52 30 54.
Open 9–11:30am & 1–4:30pm
site for over 800 years, but all that remains of the original p77), visitors can Mon–Sat, 1pm–4:30pm Sun &
13th-century Romanesque church are the Giants’ Doorway climb the stairs to hols. 5 High Mass: 10:15am Sun
a viewing platform.
and Heathen Towers. The Gothic nave, choir and side chapels & hols (Jul & Aug: 9:30am). Guided
are the result of a rebuilding programme in the 14th and 15th tours in English: 10:30am Mon–
Sat; Pummerin Bell (lift): 9am–
centuries, while some of the outbuildings, such as the Lower 5pm daily (to 6pm Jul & Aug).
Vestry, are Baroque additions. In a vault beneath the altar are Catacomb tours daily. 7 8 9
urns containing the internal organs of some of the Habsburgs. . Giants’ Doorway = ∑ stephanskirche.at
and Heathen Towers
The entrance and twin towers Transport
apparently stand on the site of an % Stephansplatz. @ 1A, 2A, 3A.
KEY earlier heathen shrine.
1 Lower Vestry
2 The symbolic number “05” of
the Austrian Resistance Movement
was carved here in 1945.
3 Main entrance
4 Pilgram’s Pulpit (see p76)
5 Entrance to the catacombs
6 The North Tower, according to
legend, was never completed
because its master builder, Hans
Puchsbaum, broke a pact he had
made with the devil by speaking a
holy name. The devil then caused . Tiled Roof
him to fall to his death. Almost a quarter of a million glazed tiles cover the roof; they
7 Southeastern entrance were meticulously restored after being damaged in the last
days of World War II.
Johannes Capistranus
On the exterior northeastern wall
of the choir is a pulpit built after the
victory over the Turks at Belgrade
in 1456. It was from here that the
Italian Franciscan, Giovanni da
Capestrano (1386–1456), is said to
have preached against the Turkish
invasion in 1451. The 18th­century
Baroque statue above it depicts the
triumphant saint – known in Austria
as Johannes Capistranus – trampling
on a defeated Turkish invader.

1515 Double
1147 The first
Romanesque 1304 Duke Rudolf IV wedding of grand­ 1711 Pummerin bell cast
building on the initiates work on children of Maximil ian from remains of guns left 1948
site consecrated High Gothic with children of the by Turks on their retreat Reconstruction
by the Bishop Albertine Choir King of Hungary from Vienna and restoration
of Passau takes place carried out
1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
1359–1440 1556 North Tower is
1230 Second Main aisle, 1515 Anton roofed over
. Singer Gate Romanesque southern Pilgram carves 1916 Emperor 1945 Cathedral
This was once the entrance for male visitors. building arches and his pulpit 1783 Stephansdom Franz Joseph’s catches fire
southern
A sculpted relief above the door depicts erected on the tower built graveyard closed funeral during bombing
after plague
scenes from the life of St Paul. same ground

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