Salzburg Cathedral

The Salzburg Cathedral (Salzburg Dom) is the most important early baroque building north of the Alps.

The cathedral is the largest place of worship in the city. With its ornate façade and mighty dome, it is the most important early baroque building north of the Alps. Its history is dominated by the prince archbishops, the absolutist rulers who once governed Salzburg. Repeatedly destroyed, rebuilt, enlarged, modified, and extended, it is a splendid concrete demonstration of the economic, political, and spiritual power wielded by the prince archbishops and principality of Salzburg.

The first cathedral was constructed under Bishop Virgil, who had a cathedral built in the centre of the former Roman settlement of Juvavum in 767. On 24 September 774, he consecrated the cathedral to Saints Peter and Rupert. When the Counts of Plain, supporters of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, set Salzburg on fire in 1167, the cathedral did not escape the flames; it burnt down to its foundation walls. Ten years later, under Archbishop Conrad III von Wittelsbach, a new cathedral was built. It was not only of great beauty and splendour but was also the most majestic Romanesque cathedral north of the Alps; it even exceeded the imperial cathedral of Speyer in size.

Four hundred years later, in 1598, fire again destroyed large parts of the cathedral. This was the perfect opportunity for Archbishop Wolf Dietrich to tear down the damaged structure and rebuild it according to his own plans. The population was not particularly happy, to say the least, with the bishop's insistence on putting his plans into action and destroying valuable sculptures and tombs of previous bishops in the process. When he proceeded to have the cathedral cemetery dug up and the bones of the dead thrown on the rubbish heap, his subjects had finally had enough and abandoned their ruler. The pompous plans of Wolf Dietrich came to a premature end when he was captured and imprisoned in Hohensalzburg Fortress. His nephew and successor, Markus Sittikus von Hohenems, gave the master builder Santino Solari the task of reconstructing the cathedral. Under his direction, the cathedral in Salzburg became the first early baroque church to be built north of the Alps. The patron himself did not live to see the completion of the monumental project he had commissioned, and it was left to Archbishop Paris Lodron to consecrate the cathedral on 25 September 1628. The celebrations were not dampened by the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War, for Paris Lodron's diplomatic skill had kept his heavily defended city almost completely isolated from the tumult of the conflict. The consecration of the cathedral became the greatest and most splendid festival that Salzburg had ever seen.

In 1944, an Allied bomb hit the dome and destroyed part of the chancel. Once the necessary repairs had been completed, the cathedral was consecrated again in all its former glory in 1959. Three numbers on the gates of the cathedral commemorate the three consecrations of 774, 1628, and 1959.

Four statues can be seen in front of the main façade. They represent the apostles Peter and Paul with key and sword, and the two patron saints of Salzburg Province, Rupert and Virgil, with salt cellar and miniature church. The two coats of arms at the top of the gable commemorate the two figures behind the cathedral, Markus Sittikus and Paris Lodron.

More treasures are to be found inside the cathedral: the font in which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was christened and the splendid main organ, surrounded by musician angels and crowned with Rupert and Virgil. A close look should also be taken at the cathedral's valuable doors by Schneider-Manzell, Mataré, and Manzu.

As part of his position as court organist and concert-master, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed many timeless pieces of church music for Salzburg before performing them in this very cathedral.

The Domplatz, the square in front of the cathedral, provides the perfect setting for the cathedral. Archbishop Guidobald Thun commissioned Giovanni Antonio Dario to build the cathedral arches next to the Kapitelplatz square in 1660. The centre of the square is dominated by the Marian column built for Archbishop Sigismund Graf Schrattenbach by Wolfgang and Johann Baptist Hagenauer from 1766 to 1771.

To round off a visit to the cathedral, you can visit the Cathedral Museum of the Carolino Augusteum Museum.