St. Stephan's Cathedral, Vienna

After arriving in Vienna via a pleasant few hour train ride (nice modern train), we headed out to stroll about and see a a few things. We had carefully selected our hotel to be on the metro and tram lines, so getting about was easy. Today was mostly a walkabout. The first stop was St. Stephan's Cathedral.

We arrived too late in the day to do justice to paid ticket, so we just stepped inside the door where everyone is allowed to walk in and look about. In a few days, I'll be posting the results of a more detailed visit with we came back for the self-guided tour.

It important to note that among the many differences between St. Stephen's Basilica in Budapest and St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, two are critical to understand what you are looking at. First, there are two different St. Stephens. The Basilica is named for the king that founded Hungary, the Cathedral is named for the protomartyr Stephen known from the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible. Secondly, the Cathedral was built in the 12th century while the Basilica was built in the 19th (finished in 1905). As a result of these two main differences and the fact that the one in Vienna is very Germanic in its influence, these two churches have little style in common.

While the Basilica is filled with gold leaf, this place is chockablock with intricately detailed stone carvings.

Even some of the votive stands are of an entirely different design.

There are lots of dark wooden carvings of somber, unsmiling people who are very serious about godly things.