Domkirche St Stephan Katakomben - 11000 Bodies under the Cathedral
- Mika Vepsalainen
- Mar 22
- 2 min read
Join us for a visit of yet another macabre side of Vienna, the catacombs under St Stephans Cathedral.
St. Stephen's Cathedral - Stephansdom – is truly ancient: the construction of Austria's largest and most significant religious building began in 1137 and the structure you see today was completed in 1511.
For our review, though, today's main attraction lies in the catacombs beneath the cathedral. Mind you, only part of the catacombs are actually located under the church, and rather constitute a system of crypts under the square north and east of the building. For almost four hundred years a cemetery surrounded the cathedral and the construction of a crypt was started in 1718 after the cemetery was closed.
Primarily, the crypt is the last resting place for Vienna's bishops. The 98-year-old Cardinal Franz König was the most recent interment in 2004 (he was the chap who was unorthodox enough to propose the election of Karol Wojtyła of Poland to be elected Pope, the first from outside Italy in 455 years).
This is also the oldest of Vienna’s three burial places for Austria’s rulers and high-ranking nobility - just imagine, the remains of Archduke Rudolf IV have been resting here since 1365! Now, here comes the macabre bit, can you imagine: the Ducal Crypt was used for parts of the Habsburgs. Their internal organs were stored here in urns separately from the bodies and the hearts. The hearts were put in a special "Herzgrüfterl", or 'little heart crypt', in the St. Augustin church in the Hofburg palace while the actual bodies were sent to the Capuchin Church that we have visited previously.
Between 1745 and 1783 over 10893 people were buried in the crypts including those from the time of the last bubonic plague in 1735. When the caverns were full of bodies, prisoners were sent to remove the bones and stacking them, neatly, to make space for more bodies.
The catacombs can only be visited on guided tours. Groups meet at the meeting point at the steps leading down to the catacombs. Your tour ends up at an exit giving to the Stephansplatz and you need to pay the tour - in cash, mind you - to the tour guide in the end.
Unfortunately this place is not good for handicapped visitors. There are steeps stairs to descend to the crypts and the floor along the corridors is not too easy to stroll on. The stairs back to Stephansplatz at the end of the tour are even steeper.
There is no loo in the cathedral. Interestingly, the church does not seem to have forgotten their old slogan telling us "as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from the purgatory springs" as, interestingly - and if you remember to check it before getting to the meeting point for the catacombs, the Cathedral sports a gift shop selling, erh, tourist stuff, so do not mind, it is not a big thing if you miss it…. A church and cemetery that the place is, there is also no café but the overpriced places around Stephansdom are happy to welcome you to wash your hands or sip a glass of bubbly after your return to the living.
Stephansdom Katakomben
Stephansplatz, 1010 Vienna
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