St Stephen's Cathedral
A roof of two hundred and thirty thousand glazed tiles, and a south tower of a hundred and thirty-seven metres.
Duration
1 hr – 2 hrs
Difficulty
●●○○○
Best time
Early morning
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
The Stephansdom stands at the exact centre of Vienna and serves as the whole city's landmark. Its south tower rises a hundred and thirty-seven metres and took sixty-five years to build; the north tower, begun afterwards, was never finished and stops at sixty-eight metres, capped with a Renaissance dome for want of anything better.
The roof is what stays with you: two hundred and thirty thousand glazed tiles in zigzags, drawing the Habsburg double eagle on one side and Vienna's arms on the other. It burned entirely in 1945 and was remade exactly, tile by tile, with donations from every Austrian province.
Getting there
Metro lines U1 and U3, Stephansplatz station: the exit comes out at the foot of the cathedral.
Rules on site
The south tower is climbed by three hundred and forty-three narrow spiral steps with two-way traffic; the north tower has a lift. The two tickets are separate and not interchangeable.
