National symbol of Austria - St. Stephen's Cathedral. St. Stephen's Cathedral: architecture, relics and sights

The national symbol of Austria and the adornment of the city of Vienna was the grandiose church of St. Stephen, the cathedral, filled with wonderful relics and real works of art. Under it are no less famous catacombs, where the remains of all Austrian emperors lie, starting with the prince who built this magnificent temple, Rudolph VI, then seventy-two Habsburg, Eugene of Savoy and many abbots of the cathedral. With any of the two towers a magnificent view of the ancient and beautiful city opens.

The Symbol of Vienna

The construction of the cathedral was started in the twelfth century, and today it is the most significant Gothic structure of Austria with a total height of 107 meters and with towers rising by another 30. Visitors often climb the bell tower, having overcome three hundred and fifty steps. It's worth it: the view opens from the bell ringer's room just gorgeous. And those 23 bells of different sizes, which are one of the main attractions of St. Stephen's Cathedral, the cathedral is adorned exclusively: only "Pummerin" is considered to be the largest bell in Western Europe. The top is clearly visible on the roof, where a two-headed eagle and the coat of arms of Austria are lined with bright tiles.

Inside the church, decoration changed frequently, so for so many centuries, architecture has acquired signs of virtually all trends and trends, right up to the Baroque. Every guest of the city considers not only his duty, but also the first duty to visit this pearl of architecture. And one day for the inspection is clearly not enough. Because the church of St. Stephen - a huge cathedral and literally on every square meter of its area containing one or another landmark.

Relics

The treasures of the cathedral are more than impressive: a huge number of valuable altars, side chapels, relics, decorated with jewels and gold: ark, books, liturgical texts, attire. Impressive and sarcophagi. The cover of the tomb of Frederick III weighs, for example, eight tons. Prince Eugene settled in a separate chapel adorned with extremely capriciousness. If we consider that the first graves appeared here at the beginning of the twelfth century, one can trace the formation of traditions of architecture as well as the decisions of the interior plan by the nature of burials.

At present, the Church of St. Stephen is a cathedral cathedral, it is the seat of the Viennese archbishop. Originally, the church was built in the center of the city in 1147, by the fifteenth century it had acquired today's borders, and a modern view - only in the sixteenth century. The oldest buildings - in the Romanesque style, it can be seen on the wall of the cathedral, where the portal and the two towers, which were later rebuilt in the Gothic style - after the fire in 1258.

Architecture

In 1340, Albert's choirs in three naves (named after the two kings of the Alberts - First and Second) were attached to the Romanesque church from the east, they have survived to this day in their original form. The northern nave was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the one in the middle - to St. Stephen and all the other saints, and the southern nave is dedicated to the twelve apostles. In 1359, Rudolph IV laid the new Gothic temple, in its place now - the highest southern tower, the foundation of which is surprisingly strong, although very small - only one and a half meters. When climbing the south tower you can see the most ancient statue of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, which once served as a decoration for the facade. From here, from this bench, which is located next to the statue of St. Stephen, Count Starkhemberg supervised the Turks during the siege.

The North Tower was built over a hundred years, only in 1578 it was equipped with a beautiful Renaissance cupola. It still seems to be more like a water tower, even though it's called Orlina, and the portal leading from it to the Female nave has the same name. After the St. Stephen's Cathedral became a cathedral, the sculptor Rollinger produced carvings, with a unique pattern of choirs, and in 1513 they established an organ. All the interiors of those times were executed, of course, in the baroque style. In 1647 the reconstruction began: a unique altar of the work of Jakob and Pokka appeared, in 1700 there were two side altars, in beauty not inferior to the main altar, two icons of the Virgin Mary, immediately became famous. The status of the temple was elevated to the Archbishop's in 40 years after the victory over the Turks in 1722.

War

During the bombardment, St. Stephen's Cathedral was not damaged, and the offensive operation of the Soviet troops also did him no harm. However, the commandant of Vienna, General Sepp Dietrich, ordered Hitler's artillery to demolish the entire city center. Fortunately, this order was not executed. But the misfortune came, where they did not expect: the local looters looted all the nearby shops and set fire to them, and the fire spread to the temple complex.

The consequences were terrible: the roof collapsed in many places, a huge bell crashed into the North Tower and crashed, many interiors of St. Stephen in Vienna, even Rollinger's choirs, were almost completely destroyed. The chairs were preserved and, thanks to the brick sarcophagi, the most valuable relics.

The cathedral was rebuilt by volunteers, and this was done only in 1960. In December 1948, a roof appeared over the main nave, and in April 1952, it was possible to resume service. The second stage of restoration began in 1980, it lasts to this day. Restored limestone walls and statues, of which there are a lot, and time is ruthless even to the most solid materials.

The First Martyr

St. Stephen's Cathedral exists not only in Vienna. This man, the first martyr, is honored in all Christian denominations. He came from the Jewish diaspora and lived in Jerusalem. For his sermon, read approximately in 33-36, that is, immediately after the resurrection and ascension of Christ, was brought to the Sanhedrin court and stoned. The book "Acts of the Holy Apostles" details his ministry to Christ and accepted martyrdom. The Orthodox honor his memory on January 9, and the Catholics on December 26.

It is not entirely clear whether Stephen died on the imposition of the death sentence or whether the mob was lynched by him without waiting for the trial to end. He said things that did not yet penetrate the minds of people, even those who were contemporaries of the Lord and, perhaps, listened to his parables and saw the miracles that he created. Stephen talked about what he saw with his own eyes: sitting at the right hand of the Father. This seemed blasphemy. The described murder scene itself is not similar to lapidation (kamen), it is, rather, the same crowd, on whose conscience and the Cross of the Lord. Besides, right after the trial, there was no one to be executed - at first the Roman authorities had to give the go-ahead, and a lot of time was spent on this. Executioner Stefan prayed for his murderers. During the burial, "great mourning" was heard over him (Acts 8: 2).

Hungary

St. Stephen's Basilica (cathedral) Budapest is honored as the most important temple of the country, calling the saint in Hungarian - Istvan. This is another saint, not the first martyr, but the king and the creator of the country. That is why it is one of the largest churches in Europe, with a bell tower at ninety-six meters high. Built in the style of neoclassicism, which was very popular in the nineteenth century. This cathedral is a vivid example of a strict and laconic classics. The first architect - Hild - did not calculate everything correctly, and one day, many years after his death, the dome collapsed. Correct mistakes took his follower - Miklos Ibble. He managed to give the majestic appearance of the temple some lightness and airiness, because the bell tower and the dome absorbed a bit of eclecticism.

I must say that Eiffel himself consulted the construction, so the constructions turned out to be reliable, nothing more has collapsed since then. The Vienna Cathedral of St. Stephen can be proud of such a rich neighborhood. Inside the basilica is luxurious: gilding, carvings, the magnificence of murals, the grace of statues and a huge majestic altar. The vault of the dome is decorated with a scene of the creation of the world. On one of the bell towers there is an observation deck for curious tourists who can climb the spiral staircase, and for the lazy there are two elevators. On the second bell tower there is no such site - there is a bell of nine tons weighing.

Czech Republic

But the Czech cathedral of St. Stephen (Litoměřice, in the стеstí region) is dedicated to the first martyr. This chapel, cathedral and parish church is built in the architectural style of the Baroque. It stands high on the Domsky hill, which was called - the mountain of St. Stephen. Romanesque basilica appeared here in 1157, then in the sixteenth century it was reconstructed in Gothic.

In 1664, the temple was completely destroyed, and then the Italian Dominico Orsi built one of the most beautiful baroque buildings in Europe for four years with a detached bell tower connected to the main building by an arched bridge. The organ in this cathedral consists of four thousand pipes, it is made in the Rococo style.

Germany

The Bavarian Cathedral of St. Stephen (Passau) is also very impressive: the length of the temple is 102 meters, width is 33, and height is 30. It is built in the late Gothic style with Baroque elements. Bavarians consider it one of the main attractions along with the famous castles. Gothic with the soul of the Baroque, as the art historians say, is also present in the interior, it is no less majestic and pompous. The third largest organ in the world and the largest in Europe is also here. He only has 5 manuals, 229 registers and almost 18 thousand pipes. Organ is a toiler, it sounds here daily.

In 720 there was the Episcopal Church of St. Stephen, built on the site of the early Christian church of St. Severin. Naturally, since that time the cathedral was rebuilt many times - wars, fires, even the time itself is unlikely to be able to convey to us the primordial nature of such an old building. In 1221, almost a hundred-year-old construction began on this site of the cathedral, and in 1407 almost two hundred years of restructuring - already in the style of the late Gothic. Thus, the whole eastern part of the church was erected - the transept, the choirs, and increased the Early Gothic nave. Many architects worked on this work of art, and finished the work of Hans Glapsberger in the early sixteenth century. So we see this now Bavarian cathedral of St. Stephen.

Austria

Let's return to the largest and most famous temple of this name in order to bring for comparison some details. For example, the length of the roof of the main nave here is equal to 110 meters. Impressive, is not it? The height to the roof ridge from the gutter is 38 meters (with the roof slope in some places to the horizontal up to 80 degrees), the bearing skeleton of the roof was before the fire a wooden (2 thousand meters), now it is made of steel (about 600 tons). And the coating itself - 230 thousand multicolored tiles, which are covered with a glaze. It was from them that they laid out the coat of arms of Austria and the coat of arms of Vienna.

Three naves of the basilica suggest that there should be three entrance portals, but it is not. In the St. Stephen's Cathedral there is only one entrance - it is the central portal, called Gigantic, or otherwise Gates' gates. Found in the construction of a huge bone (it was decided that this dragon, on mammoths in those days did not guess) prompted such names. On the sides of these gates there are three-level pagan towers. Pagan not because in the Middle Ages here met ecumenism. Just marble and another stone borrowed from the ruined Roman temples. Above the towers a lancet window rises on the central facade, and the whole portal is decorated on the motives of the Last Judgment. In the tympanum - Christ and the angels, to the right and to the left - the apostles and evangelists Luke and Mark as witnesses to the Last Judgment. And under them, that is, above the capitals of the columns to the left, are demons with axes and rope loops and chimeras. On the right is the human vices. The pillars themselves are the grapes - the symbol of the sacrament.

Sculptural portraits and altars

In the sculptural portraits depict the Church Fathers: the young sanguine Saint Ambrosius, the old choleric Saint Jerome, the mature phlegmatic Gregory the Great and the young melancholic Saint Augustine. All the stair rails on the fences in ornamental ornament: three-spoke wheels as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, rolling upwards, and with four - descending, which symbolize everything on earth - the seasons, temperaments, ages. The very handrails - with a fantastic fantasy: snakes, devouring each other, toads, lizards. There is also a dog that does not let all this evil spirits into the pulpit where the priest preaches.

Probably, there are few temples on earth, where there are as many altars as the St. Stephen's Cathedral (Vienna, Austria). There are eighteen of them, except for those who are in the chapels. The most famous are the high (central) and the Wiener Neustad. The last - the most amazing construction in beauty - the Gothic altar with paintings and carvings - was created in 1447. Its name comes from the city in which it was created and where it first was. Wooden sculptures in gilding are dedicated to scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary. The doors of the altar are open only on Sunday. On the outside are figures of 72 saints. The main altar was created by Tobias Poc, a baroque note appears in the architectural chord. The flaps depict St. Stephen's torments. It is made of black marble the first altar of Vienna. The statues next to the altar are Saint Florian and Leopold, the patrons of the city, and Saint Roch is the defender of the plague, of which St. Stephen's Cathedral can also tell a lot.

Catacombs

The first church of 1137 was located on the territory of an ancient cemetery, where people were buried in remote Roman times. Catacombs remained under the temple, continued to serve for burial, but mass burials were only in 1732, when due to the plague epidemic of Charles VI people were buryed in traditional urban cemeteries. Until 1783, when by decree of Joseph II the underground necropolis was closed, eleven thousand people were buried in the catacombs. Catacombs these corridors with crypts began to be called only with romanticism, in the nineteenth century. Then the tourists began to visit the St. Stephen's Cathedral. A photo made here for memory will return an unforgettable experience all your life.

In the catacombs - a lot of masterpieces, this is a favorite place of tourist pilgrimage. For example, the tomb of Frederick III, where decorations are 240 figures. On the pedestal are mythical monsters, skulls, beasts. On the walls of the sarcophagus are depicted all his good deeds during his life. Above - monks, priests, bishops of all the monasteries, which he founded, praying for the salvation of the soul of Frederick. The red marble sarcophagus was invented and ordered by the owner thirty years before his death.