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Walking Tour: Vienna’s Religious Sights
Guide Location: Austria » Vienna
Guide Type: Self-guided city tour
# of Attractions: 7
Tour Duration: 1 hour(s)
Transportation Mode: by foot
Travel Distance: 2.1 km
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Gryffindor
Author: leticia
Vienna has a vast number of religious sights, with some dating back to ancient times. Many of them were built in Baroque style, like gorgeous Karlskirche, while others display fine Gothic and Romanesque architectural styles. Be sure to check out the church interiors with marvelous frescoes on the ceiling, high altars and gigantic paintings.
Tour Stops and Attractions
Karlskirche
1) Karlskirche
The St. Charles's Church (Karlskirche) is a church situated on the south side of Karlsplatz, Vienna. It is located on the edge of the 1st district, 200 metres outside the Ringstraße. It is one of the most outstanding baroque church structures north of the Alps, and boasts a dome in the form of an elongated ellipsoid. Ever since Karlsplatz was restored as an ensemble in the late 1980s, the Karlskirche has garnered fame due to its dome and its two flanking columns of bas-reliefs, as well as its role as an architectural counterweight to the buildings of the Musikverein and of the Vienna University of Technology. The church is cared for by a religious order and has long been the parish church as well as the seat of the Catholic student ministry of the Vienna University of Technology.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Gryffindor
Malteserkirche
2) Malteserkirche
The Maltese Church (Malteserkirche) is a Gothic church of the Knights Hospitaller in Vienna, on Kärntner Straße. The first church on this site is mentioned in 1217, as a "House of the Prueder of the Order of Saint John", a commandry to care and support crusaders. The current building was built in the mid 15th century. In the 17th century it was a favoured preaching location for Abraham a Sancta Clara. This building was rebuilt to fit contemporary taste in the Baroque era and in 1806, and the Kommendenhaus (1839) and parts of the church (1857) had stained glass added during the 19th century. The Order ran into financial trouble after the First World War and in 1933 had to sell the church and the Johanneshof, and the church was given over to other uses within a historical preservation order. It was bought back in 1960 and restored in stages, finishing with a general restoration in 1998. The church's high altarpiece was painted in 1730 by Johann Georg Schmidt.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Denis Barthel
Kapuzinerkirche
3) Kapuzinerkirche
The Capuchin Church (Kapuzinerkirche) in Vienna is the church and monastery of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, founded in 1617 and dedicated in 1632. It is on the Neue Markt square, near the imperial Hofburg Palace. The official name is Church of St. Mary of the Angels, but is commonly known in Vienna as the Capuchin Church. Its subterranean mausoleum is the Imperial Crypt (Kaisergruft but usually called the Kapuzinergruft) that has been the principal place of entombment for the Habsburg dynasty, hereditary Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, and their descendants. The church is also used daily by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter for the celebration of the 1962 extraordinary form of the Roman Rite.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Welleschik
Augustinerkirche
4) Augustinerkirche
The Augustinian Church (Augustinerkirche) in Vienna is a parish church located on Josefsplatz, next to the Hofburg, the winter palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Originally built in the 14th century as the parish church of the imperial court of the Habsburgs, the harmonious Gothic interior was added in the 18th century. Its official name is St. Augustine's Church, although the Viennese always called it the Augustinian Church. Notable among the church's monuments is the memorial to Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria sculpted by Antonio Canova, in 1805.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Werckmeister
Lutherische Stadtkirche Wien
5) Lutherische Stadtkirche Wien
Lutherische Stadtkirche Wien is a historical city church located in the centre of the Vienna. The bells of this church date back to 1700s. Even after two world wars, this church remained very well preserved.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Politikaner
Hofburgkapelle
6) Hofburgkapelle
Hofburgkapelle was built in the 15th century and includes Hofmusikkapelle, one of the oldest musical establishments in Europe. Visitors often come here to enjoy the Vienna Boys’ Choir, founded in 1498 by Emperor Maximilian I.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Politikaner
Minoritenkirche
7) Minoritenkirche
The Minoritenkirche (Greyfriars Church or Minorite Church) is a church built in French Gothic style in Vienna. The Minoritenkirche stands in the Innere Stadt of Vienna, northwest of the Hofburg, at the Minoritenplatz. The Minoriten were the  Franciscan monks. They were appointed in 1224 to Vienna. The whole building follows the pattern of French Cathedral architecture. The building masters are unknown; however, it is commonly attributed to Jacobus Parisiensis, Fra Giacomo of Paris. The church holds a Baroque altar made of polychrome marble and a glass window of the 17th century. The walls covered with frescoes of the coats of arms of Austrian aristocratic families who either contributed to the construction of the Church or are buried here.
Image Courtesy of Wikimedia and Anna reg
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