Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ing from 1782, a captivating white, oversized swirl of motifs, built partly as a religious
vow following the passing of the plague.
Stadtmuseum
(
www.stadtmuseum-stpoelten.at
;
Prandtauerstrasse 2; adult/child €5/2; 10am-5pm Wed-Sun)
Although it ob-
viously can't compete with the best of the bunch in Vienna, the City Museum is excellent
and well worth a visit. Its permanent collection focusing on art nouveau in St Pölten is on
the 1st floor, and a section on the ground floor is devoted to local archaeological treas-
ures. Admission includes usually worthwhile temporary exhibitions.
MUSEUM
Dom
CATHEDRAL
(Domplatz 1; dawn-dusk)
Jakob Prandtauer was one of the most important architects of the
baroque epoch, and the cathedral, his masterpiece of baroque rebuilding in St Pölten, has
an impressive interior with lashings of fake marble and gold, augmented by frescoes by
Daniel Gran. While exploring the cathedral, be sure to visit the cloister with its old grave-
stones.
SYNAGOGUE
Synagoge
(Dr-Karl-Renner-Promenade 22; 9am-3pm Mon-Fri)
St Pölten's main synagogue dates from 1912
and has attractive art nouveau features. The Nazis laid it to waste during the pogroms of
1938, and during the Hitler years the building wound up in the hands of the city council,
which used it as a camp for Russian forced labour victims before the Red Army arrived
and turned it into a grain store. It was restored and today houses an institute for Jewish
history.
Sleeping
Jugendherberge St Pölten
( 321 96;
www.oejhv.at
;
Bahnhofplatz 1a; dm/s/d €22/29/44; )
The youth hostel is about as con-
venient to the train station as it gets - it's all but in the same building.
HOSTEL
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