Ruprechtskirche: Vienna's Oldest Church
Why is it significant?
Climb the few steps and you are in front of a small, stocky church with a sturdy square tower and walls covered in ivy. It looks like a village church that got lost in the city. Do not be fooled: this may be the oldest church in Vienna.
Key Facts
| Place | Ruprechtskirche: Vienna's Oldest Church |
|---|---|
| Address | Ruprechtsplatz 1, 1010 Wien, Austria |
| Geo Coordinates | 48.21200, 16.37440 |
| Part of Walk | Vienna's Old Town Lanes: Stephansdom, Roman Stones and Medieval Legends |
| Generated | Generated |
Climb the few steps and you are in front of a small, stocky church with a sturdy square tower and walls covered in ivy. It looks like a village church that got lost in the city. Do not be fooled: this may be the oldest church in Vienna.
Tradition says it was founded in the eighth century, around 740, by missionaries from Salzburg. That date is a legend and cannot be proved. What is certain is that parts of the building, including the lower part of the tower, are Romanesque, from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and that the church is first securely mentioned in documents around 1200.
The church is dedicated to Saint Rupert, the first bishop of Salzburg and the patron saint of salt. And that fits the place perfectly. Below this terrace lay the river harbour, where salt ships from the Salzkammergut unloaded their cargo. The street running below the church is still called Salzgries, the salt gravel, after the landing place on the bank. Salt was white gold in the Middle Ages, and Rupert watched over it.
Look for the statue of Saint Rupert holding a salt barrel. Inside, the church is dark, low and peaceful, with some of the oldest stained glass in the city. It is a good place to sit for a moment, because the lanes around you have become one of Vienna's liveliest nightlife quarters, nicknamed the Bermuda Triangle, where people are said to disappear for a whole night.
Picture Vienna as it was when this church was young: a small walled town above the Danube, built on the ruins of the Roman camp, with the river flowing just below this terrace. Almost everything you have seen so far on this walk came later. Now go down the steps, cross Rotenturmstraße and follow Fleischmarkt east towards a church with a golden facade.