A trip to most major European cities just isn’t complete without seeing its iconic church, and St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, or Stephansdom, is no exception.
St. Stephen’s Cathedral, is the symbol of Vienna and the most important church in Austria. Construction began in the mid-12th century on the ruins of two other churches, the first one having been consecrated in 1147.
St. Stephen’s, given its importance and long history, has a long list of historically significant events and people. Mozart got married here, and he lived around the corner. You can see the building where he lived, and I highly recommend visiting his apartment!
Beethoven realized that he was deaf when he noticed the birds flying out of the bell tower because they were ringing, but he couldn’t hear them.
The highest point of Stephansdom is the South Tower, which you can see in the next photo. Completed in 1433, it took 65 years to build.
Because of the tower’s height, it was used for observation and command to defend Vienna during the Ottoman siege in 1529 and again in 1683. Until 1955, the tower was the nightly observation point and if the watchman noticed a fire, he would ring the bells.
The catacombs (beneath the cathedral) contain the remains of over 11,000, many of whom died because of the plague. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to see the catacombs, but visitors can only see them on a guided tour. Tours were limited when I was there in 2017 while renovations were being completed.
This was all I was able to see inside. ↓
The only thing that was available to visitors was to go up to the Pummerin, the largest bell, via the elevator. While you’re up there, you can get one-of-a-kind views of the roof, which makes St. Stephen’s unique.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
The Roof of Stephandom
Although the roof is colourful and not like any other church roof I’ve ever seen, I didn’t really notice it until I had gone up. Did you notice the unique roof right away in the first few photos?
My jaw dropped when I was up there. A staff member said that the roof is 111m long with 230,000 tiles. He also said that it’s so steep that staff don’t have to go up to clean the tiles – rain gets the job done!
Visiting Stephansdom
- The easiest way to get to Stephansdom is to take the Underground; take either the U1 or the U3 to Stephansplatz.
- If you’re taking the bus, you can take 1A, 2A, or 3A and get off and Stephansplatz.
- Hours, accessibility, and tour info here.
- You can easily do the cathedral and Mozart’s apartment in one day; save things like Hitler’s Vienna for a separate day.
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