Continuing with my series of photographs (finally!) from the most epic European dad-daughter trip of (probably?) our lifetime –
29 days from December 2023 to January 2024 via planes, trains and automobiles.
After arriving in Vienna from Prague and checking into the Hotel Royal in the Historic Centre of Vienna (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), we paid a visit to the symbol of the city, St. Stephen’s Cathedral – which just happened to be just around the corner.
St. Stephen’s Cathedral
Construction of St. Stephen’s Cathedral began in the 12th century and its interior changed repeatedly over the centuries until it was finally given its current Baroque appearance. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, seen today in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV (1339–1365) and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147.
The glory of St. Stephen’s Cathedral is its ornately patterned, richly colored roof, 111 meters (364 ft) long, and covered by 230,000 glazed tiles. Above the choir on the south side of the building the tiles form a mosaic of the double-headed eagle that is symbolic of the empire ruled from Vienna by the Habsburg dynasty. On the north side, the coats of arms of the City of Vienna and of the Republic of Austria are depicted.
On 12 April 1945, during the final days of the Second World War, civilian looters lit fires in nearby shops as Soviet Army troops entered the city. The flying sparks from burning houses in the vicinity caused a fire in the Gothic wooden roof truss. This led to the collapse of a supporting wall of the choir’s roof truss, which penetrated the vaults of the south and middle choir.
Replicating the original bracing for so large a roof (it rises 38 meters above the floor) would have been cost-prohibitive, so over 600 metric tons of steel bracing were used instead. Because the roof is so steep, it’s rarely covered by snow and is strikingly clean in comparison to other roofs in the city, since the rain falls over the tiles and washes them easily.
The roof was covered and finished in 1950. And on April 26, 1952, The Steffl, as it is affectionately known in Vienna, was reopened and has been a symbol of Austria’s reconstruction ever since.
Check out the gallery below for a look inside (and outside!)
We’re just getting started with images from Vienna, more from this historic city coming soon –
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All photographs in this post taken with the Sony A7RV using the Sony 16-35mm f/2.8, Sony 24-105mm f/4 and Sony 85mm f/1.8 lenses, as well as the remarkable Xiaomi 13 Ultra, a camera phone that features a variable aperture 1-inch main camera and Leica co-engineered lens.
View all galleries from our epic father-daughter European Christmas vacation HERE
