Salzburg Cathedral

Stand still on the wide stone square for a moment. Listen. Footsteps echo off pale walls on every side, and somewhere a bell begins to ring. In front of you rises a broad facade of light stone, warm in the sun and almost silver under cloud. Two towers frame it, and their green copper caps show against the sky. This is Salzburg Cathedral. For centuries it has been the spiritual centre of a city once ruled by its archbishops.

The church is dedicated to two saints, Rupert and Virgil. Both shaped early Christian Salzburg. Rupert is remembered as the bishop who refounded the city around the year 700. In the salt-rich valleys nearby, he is closely linked with the trade that made this region wealthy. Virgil was an Irish-born bishop and scholar. In the eighth century he built the first cathedral on this site. So the ground under your feet has held a cathedral for well over a thousand years.

The building you see today is not that first church. Earlier cathedrals rose here, burned, and were rebuilt. Then in 1598 a great fire badly damaged the medieval cathedral. The prince-archbishop of that time was Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau, an ambitious ruler who loved Italian style. He chose not to repair the old church. Instead, he had the ruins cleared. That decision opened the way for something entirely new in this part of Europe.

His successor, Markus Sittikus, brought in the Italian architect Santino Solari. The foundation stone was laid in 1614. Work went on even as the Thirty Years' War tore through Central Europe. In 1628, Archbishop Paris Lodron consecrated the new cathedral with great ceremony. Salzburg stayed largely out of that war's destruction. Many people saw the cathedral as a symbol of the city's luck in a dark time.

Now look closely at the facade. It is made of marble from the Untersberg, the mountain just south of the city. Four large statues stand in front of it. The two outer figures are Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Peter holds keys, and Paul holds a sword. The two inner figures are the patron saints, Rupert and Virgil. Look for the small barrel in Rupert's hands. It is a barrel of salt, a quiet reminder of the money that built Salzburg.

At the entrance you will see three tall bronze doors. They look older than they are. In fact, they were made in the twentieth century. Their themes are Faith, Love, and Hope. Above the doors, look for the metal grille with three dates: 774, 1628, and 1959. Each date marks a consecration of a cathedral on this spot. Here is the surprise in that last date. It points to a story many visitors never hear.

In October 1944, during the Second World War, an aerial bomb struck the cathedral. It tore through the central dome and crashed into the church below. The damage was severe. Salzburg's people rebuilt it with great care over many years. The restored cathedral was consecrated again in 1959. So when you look up at the dome, you see faithful reconstruction. It is almost impossible to tell where the old work ends and the new begins.

Step inside, and the light changes. The interior is mostly white and soft grey stucco. That is the moulded plaster used to make ornament on walls and ceilings. Painted scenes fill the vaults, framed by deep, raised plasterwork. Your eye travels down the long nave toward the crossing. There, the dome lets daylight fall from high windows. The space feels calm and balanced. It shows the early Baroque, a style that came north from Italy and favours grand, theatrical space.

Near the entrance, find the baptismal font. It is a bronze basin from the fourteenth century, much older than the building around it. It rests on bronze lions. On a January day in 1756, a newborn boy was baptised at this font. His name was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Later, as a young man, Mozart worked as an organist at the cathedral. He wrote sacred music for services held right here.

Music is still central to this place. Look up around the crossing, and you will notice several organ galleries, not just one. In earlier centuries, musicians could stand in different galleries at the same time. Their sound came from several directions and met under the dome. If you are lucky enough to hear a Mass or a concert, stand near the centre. That is where the sound gathers most fully.

Below the main floor lies the crypt. Many of Salzburg's archbishops are buried there. Beneath the church and square, excavations have uncovered foundations of the earlier cathedrals. They show how each new church was built on top of the last. Outside, the cathedral arches connect the church to the archbishops' palace. Today this whole route can be explored as a museum circuit called the DomQuartier, which needs its own ticket.

Back outside, walk toward the far end of Cathedral Square. In the middle stands a column topped by a gilded statue of the Virgin Mary, from the eighteenth century. Here is the second surprise. Stand a few steps behind the column, near the back of the square, and line it up with the facade. From the right spot, the stone angels on the cathedral seem to hold a crown just above Mary's head. Move a little, and the effect disappears.

Each summer this square becomes a stage. Since 1920 the Salzburg Festival has performed the play Everyman here, with the cathedral facade as its backdrop. Even outside festival time, take one more look before you leave. Notice the green domes, the mountain marble, the saints with their keys and salt. Listen again to the footsteps on the stones. Then walk on slowly through the arches and into the old town.