Dom zu St. Jakob (Saint Jakob Cathedral), Innsbruck (must see)

Saint Jakob Cathedral, also known as Innsbruck Cathedral, is one of the most important Baroque churches in Tyrol and a major landmark of the city’s Old Town. A church attached to Wilten Abbey stood on this site by 1180, but a 1689 earthquake and fires during the 13th and 14th centuries left it beyond repair. In 1717, it was decided to replace the aging building with an entirely new church.

The present cathedral was inaugurated in 1724, thanks to generous contributions from parishioners and the Tyrolean nobility. Its twin bell towers, copper-clad onion dome, and elegant limestone-and-marble façade, adorned with statues of Tyrolean saints and Saint James, make it one of Innsbruck's most recognizable landmarks.

Step inside to discover one of Austria's finest Baroque interiors. The cruciform church is organized around a spacious double-bayed nave and semicircular transept, both crowned by richly decorated domes that flood the interior with light. Massive columns support soaring rounded arches that frame the sanctuary, drawing your attention toward the magnificent marble high altar beneath the central dome. Look up to admire the illusionistic ceiling frescoes, whose dramatic compositions create a remarkable sense of height and movement, while the gilded decoration and ornate stucco work complete the Baroque setting.

The cathedral's greatest artistic treasure is the celebrated Maria Hilf painting by the German Renaissance painter Lucas Cranach the Elder, completed in 1530 and displayed on the high altar. This image of the Virgin and Child became one of the most venerated Marian icons in the German-speaking world. Also be sure to visit the canopied tomb of Archduke Maximilian III, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, whose richly decorated monument adds another layer of Habsburg history to the church.