Saint Stephen's Cathedral

By the demand of the House of Habsburg none of the buildings in Austro-Hungarian Empire could have been higher than a southern tower of Saint Stephen's Cathedral. Therefore the cathedral is overlooking whole Vienna and can be seen from anywhere in the city. Nowadays this cathedral is not only a symbol of Austria and its capital, not only the historical landmark and the treasury but also a functioning Catholic cathedral of a Viennese eparchy.

The first church in the center of Vienna was laid down in 1137. But later it was burned down. The second church built in the Romanesque style was consecrated at the same place in 1263. In the following two hundred years Saint Stephen's Cathedral was growing upwards and sidewards, and an old building was partly demounted. Gothic walls and towers were built around it. But the northern tower still remains unaccomplished.

Due to multiple reconstructions of Saint Stephen's Cathedral its architecture is diverse but not less magnificent. A huge entry portal remained from basilica built in Romanesque style, three tiers of old towers are seen from every side of this portal. The chancel - Albertine Choir - was built in the early XIV century and it still remains. Gothic walls and towers were added in the late XIV century.

Saint Stephen's Cathedral almost had no changes since its construction but it was greatly damaged during the Second World War. Fire in April, 1945 destroyed old interiors and the organ. A huge bell "Pummerin" fell down from the tower, the cathedral roof crashed. It took 15 years to restore the cathedral thanks to support of volunteers from all the lands of Austria.

Saint Stephen's Cathedral keeps a lot of sights inside, from underground catacombs to the observation platform in the Southern tower and the roof. There is a shrine under the cathedral, wonder-working Potsch icon of Our Lady in the south-western portal and a carved pulpit in the center of the main nave. And from the observation platform (343 steps upstairs) you can clearly see tile-lined national emblems of Austria and Vienna made of 230 thousand coloured tiles on the roof of the cathedral.