Vienna: Meandering Around the City

Leaving the Ephesos Museum, the plan was to take the shortest route to St Stephen’s Cathedral. However, turning the corner from Heldenplatz, we spied the Volksgarten [People’s Garden]. Time for a short detour.

The garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was initially built between 1819-1823 as a private place for the Archdukes of Austria, was opened to the public in 1825. In the center is the Theseus Temple, built as a mini replica of the Athenian temple by the same name. It was designed to house a single work: Antonio Canova’s white marble masterpiece “Theseus Slaying the Centaur.” Later, before the Ephesos Museum was founded, some of the artifacts from Ephesus were exhibited here as well. These days, the temple is periodically used for temporary art exhibits for a single piece of contemporary art.

Resuming our walk to the cathedral, we noted that the skies in the distance were growing ominous. But the sky was still clear above us. So, we kept going. Along the way, we made one more detour … going into Peterskirche for a quick look-see. When we came back outside, we found the streets wet. Rain was falling steadily. Bummer … the wet stuff just had to catch us while we were once again out and about!

Despite the rain, we made it to St Stephen’s Cathedral … the mother church of the Vienna Archdiocese. The current Romanesque and Gothic style of the church dates back to the 14th century. It sits on the foundations of two earlier churches. The multi-colored tile roof is one of the most iconic symbols of the city.

One can enter the church for free. But you have to pay to get into the nave. You have to pay to get into the crypt. You have to pay to go up each tower. If not for the rain, we might have at least gone up one of the towers. Instead, we satisfied ourselves with a meander outside the fenced-off nave, took a few photos, and left. We might return on a nice-weather day if we have time to spare … which seems unlikely at this point.

By this time, it was getting on towards 3:00p. We decided to head home to rest up before tonight’s concert outing.Read more