The tiled roof
A quarter of a million glazed tiles forming the imperial eagle โ best seen from the square's southeast corner.
C.Stadler/Bwag โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). โ CC BY-SA 4.0 ยท Lars (Lon) Olsson โ CC BY-SA 3.0
The south if you're up to it: higher, finer, and stairs only. The north has a lift, is quicker, reaches the great bell, and gives a lower but wider view toward the river.
It is a working place of worship: covered shoulders and modest dress are expected, along with quiet and silenced phones, especially near the altar.
The first hour after opening or the last before closing. Midday is the worst โ it is where every walking tour converges.
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Vienna's geographic and symbolic heart at once: a Gothic cathedral whose oldest parts date to the twelfth century, known to locals simply as the Steffl. Its roof is the city's visual signature โ a quarter of a million glazed tiles laid out as the double-headed imperial eagle, rebuilt entirely on public donations after the fire of 1945. Entry to the rear vestibule is free, but the real substance lies deeper: a stone pulpit carved with detail so fine it seems to move, the red marble tomb of Emperor Frederick III, and catacombs holding the urns of Habsburg entrails โ a peculiar burial custom that distributed a single body across three sites in the city. For the view there are two different options: the south tower's 343 steps on foot to a cramped chamber above the rooftops, or the easier north tower lift to the great Pummerin bell. The south is harder and finer; the north suits anyone who can't face the stairs.
A quarter of a million glazed tiles forming the imperial eagle โ best seen from the square's southeast corner.
343 tight spiral steps ending in a small chamber over Vienna's rooftops โ the city's hardest climb and its most honest.
A guided descent past plague graves and the urns of Habsburg entrails โ strange and unforgettable.
Carved with astonishing precision, and at the foot of its stair a small window from which the sculptor's own face looks out โ a signature five centuries early.
Stephansplatz, Vienna