AUSTRIA - Best of Europe 2014 - page 42

Austriafeaturethesouthtowerontheback.)ThecathedralhassurvivedVienna'smanywars
and today symbolizes the city's spirit and love of freedom.
Cost: It's free to enter the foyer and north aisle of the church, but it costs €3.50 to get
into the main nave, where most of the interesting items are located (more for special exhib-
its). Going up the towers costs €3.50 (by stairs, south tower) or €4.50 (by elevator, north
tower). You'll pay €4.50 to visit the catacombs and €4 to see the treasury (for more on the
towers, catacombs, and treasury, see the end of this tour). The €16 combo-ticket—covering
entry, both towers, catacombs, treasury, and audioguide—is overkill for most visitors.
Hours: The church doors are open daily 6:00-22:00, but the main nave is open for tour-
istsMon-Sat9:00-11:30&13:30-16:30,Sun13:00-16:30,until17:30June-Aug.Duringser-
vices,youcan'tenterthemainnave(unlessyou'reattendingMass)oraccessthenorthtower
elevator or catacombs, but you can go into the back of the church.
Information: Tel. [phone], www.stephanskirche.at .
Tours: The €4.50 tours in English are entertaining (daily at 15:45, check information
board inside entry to confirm schedule; price includes main nave entry). The €1 audioguide
is helpful. You can download a free Rick Steves audio tour of St. Stephen's; see here .
Self-Guided Tour: This tour will give you a good look at the cathedral, inside and
out.
Cathedral Exterior: Before we go inside, let's circle around the cathedral for a look at
its impressive exterior.
• As you face the church's main entry, go to the right across the little square, and find the
old-time photos next to the door marked 3a Stephansplatz . From here, you can take in the
sheer magnitude of this massive church, with its skyscraping spire.
The church we see today is the third one on this spot. It dates mainly from 1300 to
1450, when builders expanded on an earlier structure and added two huge towers at the
end of each transept. The impressive 450-foot south tower —capped with a golden orb and
cross—took two generations to build (65 years) and was finished in 1433. The tower is a
rarity among medieval churches in that it was completed before the Gothic style—and the
age of faith—petered out.
The half-size north tower (223 feet), around the other side of the church, was meant to
be a matching steeple. But around 1500, it was abandoned in mid-construction, when the
money was needed to defend the country against the Ottomans rather than to build church
towers.Youcanascendbothtowers(stairstothesouthtower,anelevatortothenorthtower);
for details, see the end of this tour.
The cathedral was heavily damaged at the end of World War II. Near where you are
standing are old photos showing the destruction. In 1945, Vienna was caught in the chaos
between the occupying Nazis and the approaching Soviets. Allied bombs sparked fires in