St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, Austria

St. Stephen’s Cathedral (German: Stephansdom) is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the city’s best-known landmark. It stands on Stephansplatz in the very centre of the Old Town, where the pedestrian streets Graben and Kärntner Straße meet; the Stephansplatz underground station (lines U1 and U3) is right in front of it. Together with the historic centre of Vienna, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A Romanesque church was consecrated here in 1147; its west front with the Giant’s Door and the two Heathen Towers still survives. The Gothic rebuilding began in the 14th century under Duke Rudolf IV. The south tower, nicknamed “Steffl”, was completed in 1433 and is 136 metres high, while work on the north tower stopped in 1511 and it was given a Renaissance cap in 1578; it holds the Pummerin, Austria’s largest bell. The church is about 107 metres long, and its steep roof is covered with some 230,000 glazed tiles forming the double-headed eagle and the coats of arms of Vienna and Austria. After a fire in April 1945 the cathedral was rebuilt and reopened in 1952.

Inside are the late-Gothic stone pulpit with its self-portrait of the master builder peering out of a window, the tomb of Emperor Frederick III and the Wiener Neustädter Altar. Beneath the cathedral are the catacombs with the ducal crypt of the Habsburgs.

Entry to the rear of the nave is free (2026). A visit of the whole interior with an audio guide costs €8 (Monday to Saturday 9:00–11:30 and daily 13:00–16:30); the climb up the 343 steps of the south tower, the lift to the Pummerin in the north tower and the guided catacombs tour also cost €8 each, and an all-inclusive ticket valid for a year costs €29. As an active cathedral, it holds daily services, and concerts take place here regularly.