Vienna Things to Do Tips by AcornMan

No viist to Vienna would be complete without visiting the most city's most prominent landmark, Stephansdom (St. Stephens Cathedral). Its enormous main steeple is easily visible from all over the city. At 449 feet, it is the 11th tallest church ever built anywhere in the world.

The first recorded church here was founded in 1137, by Duke Leopold IV in a contract with Reginmar, Bishop of Passau. The church was dedicated to St. Stephen, the patron of the bishop's cathedral in Passau. The first church building was built in the Romanesque style and consecrated ten years later. The present west wall and Roman towers date from 1237. After a great fire in the city in 1258, a larger replacement structure, also Romanesque and reusing the Roman towers, was consecrated, on 23 April 1263, an anniversary highlighted each year by a rare ringing of the Pummerin bell for three minutes in the evening.

In 1304, Emperor Albert I ordered construction of a Gothic three-naved choir, further east of the church and wide enough to meet the tips of the old transepts. Work continued under his son Duke Albert II; this latest work was consecrated in 1340, on the 77th anniversary of the previous consecration. The motif of the north nave furnishings was St. Mary; the middle nave was for St. Stephen and All the Saints; and the Apostles were honored in the south nave. This part of the present cathedral, east of the present transepts, is called the Albertine Choir.

In 1359, his son Duke Rudolf IV, who is called "the founder", laid, in the vicinity of the present south tower, the cornerstone for a Gothic extention of Albert's choir westward, to encapsulate the existing second church. That old church was then removed from inside the new one.

The Stephansdom was saved from intentional destruction at the hands of retreating German forces during World War II, when Captain Gerhard Klinkicht disregarded orders from the city commandant, Sepp Dietrich, to "fire a hundred shells and leave it in just debris and ashes."

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Address: Stephansplatz

Franziskanerkirche doesn't look like much on the outside. When I first came across it I thought it looked like the strip mall version of a European cathedral. But don't let the humble exterior mislead you, because the interior of Franziskanerkirche is beautiful.

The Church of the Franciscans is also referred to as the Church of St Jerome and dates from 1603. As a mix of Gothic and Renaissance architecture typical of the period, the front portal was added later in 1750 (fittingly, the figure of St Jerome stands atop of the crown). Inside, the ornate baroque high alter should not be missed when visiting.

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Address: Franziskanerplatz, A-1010

We were in such a rush to see as much of Vienna in one day as we could that we never even went inside the art history museum, but the exterior alone is very much worth going to see.

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Address: A-1010 Vienna, Maria Theresien-Platz
Website: http://www.khm.at/homeE/homeE.html

If it weren't for its steeple, you could walk right past St. Augustine's Church without even realizing it was there. Vienna has so many narrow streets that this is often the case with many of the smaller churches. The interior of St. Augustine's Church is not as colorful or ornate as a lot of other churches in the city, but its simplicity is beautiful in its own right.

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Phone: +43 1 533 70 99
Address: Hofburg - Josefsplatz, 1010
Website: http://www.augustiner.at/kirchenmusik

Beethoven is one of Vienna's most famous former inhabitants, so of course there is a monument to him there. It is located in the city park, which is worth seeing in and of itself, especially if you need some time to relax after wallking around for hours like we did.

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The Evangelical Church was locked when we tried to visit it, but I liked the exterior because of the unique yellow color, which made it stand out from a lot of the city's other many churches. The church is located in the tangle of Vienna's narrow streets, making it difficult to see it from a distance or to get a good photograph of it.

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The People's Garden (Volksgarten) was opened in 1820, on the site of the Burgbastei which Napoleon's army destroyed. It was designed in the manner of the Luxembourg garden in Paris and continues to function as an elegant and popular town garden with rose benches, shady alleys and comfortable park chairs and benches.

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You can't visit Vienna without going to see the Hofburg. In fact, it's so enormous and centrally located that I doubt it's even possible to avoid it. The Hofburg was orignially a medieval castle, but today only the castle chapel ('Burgkapelle') demonstrates its medieval past. It was extended to a magnificent residence when the Habsburg's power increased. That's why one can find almost any architectural style, from gothic to art nouveau. Nowadays this enormous complex is home to theNational Library, "Schatzkammer" (Imperial Treasury), and houses a collection of musical instruments, another collection of weapons, a "Museum f?r V?lkerkunde" (Museum of Ethnography) and famous "Spanische Hofreitschule" (Spanish Riding School). Vienna's Imperial castle also houses exotic butterflies in a marvellous art-deco glass house.

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Address: The winter palace of the emperor