St.+Stephen's+Cathedral

Stephansdom, also referred to as St. Stephen’s Cathedral, is the most important church in Austria. The church is a symbol of Austria, and a piece of its identity lies within this church. This church is on land that once held a Romanesque church and a Romanesque basilica, but in 1258 a major fire accord and burned everything to the ground including the church. This led to the construction of the current Gothic church in the 14th century. Although this cathedral wasn’t done, it was damaged during the Turkish siege of 1683, and then again at the end World War II. The fire that happened at the end World War II damaged the roof of the cathedral, when it was damaged people from the town took colorful ceramic tiles and put them on roof while repairing it creating it’s popularly known patterns across the roof. St. Stephen’s is popular known as the church that held Mozart’s wedding ceremony and his funeral. Mozart was married here on August 4 of 1782 and later had his funeral here on December 7 of 1791. Another thing that makes this an attraction is their famous Pummerin bell that was captured during the Turkish siege of 1683. This bell is only rung on every New Year. Another big thing about this church is the view from the tower ‘Steffl,’ with about 300 steps you can climb to the top and enjoy the view of the city below. As for the current church, they have seven services on weekdays then ten on Sundays. They are very busy and have the most churchgoers on days and times like Christmas, Whitsun ( a holiday seven weeks after Easter Sunday to remember the Holy Spirit’s decent from heaven on to Jesus’ followers), and Easter Sunday. There are things that you can do today like take the lift up to the top of the north tower or go under the church and see the underground cemetery.