Footsteps - Jotaro's Travels
A Unesco Heritage Site
Salzburg, Austria - September 2015
The Salzburg Cathedral (in German Salzburger Dom) is one of the most impressive churches in Austria. We visited it while on a tour of Europe and it has one of the most beautiful interior. Founded by Saint Rupert in 774 and dedicated to Saint Rupert and Saint Vergilius, still contains the baptismal font in which composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was baptized.
After a lightning fire burnt down the original cathedral in 842, it was completely rebuilt in 1628 to its present appearance. Prince-Bishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau oversaw the rebuilding of the present cathedral which is designed in Italian Baroque architecture and had an impressive dome. It is 466 feet long and 109 fett high at the crossing dome.
THE OUTSIDE
The cathedral is located at Mozartplatz, a large plaza where there is a statue of Mozart.
Nearby is the Residence Fountain, with snorting & neighing horses rushing out of the water.
A closer look at the horses.
The central water feature of the Residence Fountain, oddly though the fountain don't seem to be spouting water.
At the front compound is a composite monument of the Madonna.
Mozartplatz is frequently used for festivities and celebration, today stall were being set up... I wondered what the occasion is, there was this temporary monument set up of a man on a golden globe... World Peace Day perhaps?
The dome of the cathedral... this close-up look shows it to be a segmented dome made with narrow strips of aluminium; each segment had a vent for lighting of the ceiling below.
The spires... were also clock towers.
At the fare end, the rear roof of an adjoining building was intriguing, a octagonal pyramid covered with dark brown slates.
Behind the cathedral sitting high on the Festungsberg was the Hohensalzburg Castle. The castle is reachable by a funicular railway.
The aerial view of the cathedral from the railway shows it to be a complex of two buildings. The cathedral in front and at the rear was is the Residenz Castle and St. Peter′s Abbey.
The front entrance to the cathedral with three arches and four statues, notably those of the founding bishops.
Below are the statues:
These four were sculpted from marble.
To one side was another statue, this one a stylized one crafted from copper.
THE INSIDE
View towards the altar, from the entrance to the cathedral. Salzburg Cathedral has one of the brightest and colourful ceiling, we will come to that later.
At the nave, other than the nice vaulted ceiling, detailed carvings decorated the side arches, column headers and cornices.
The main altar area and the apse. Could not locate the font on which Mozart of baptised though.
A close up view of the main altar.
The right transept and its altar.
The left transept and its altar.
Mother Mary's shrine.
The organ pipes at the left side.
The main organ pipes at the rear.
Side pulpit.
THE CEILING
Though lacking in stain glass mosaic, the cathedral makes up for it with it's beautiful, intricate and colourful ceilings:
The barrel-vaulted ceiling over the nave.
A closer view of the nave ceiling.
The ceiling over the main altar with a peep at the minor dome ceiling over the apse.
A close up view of the apse ceiling.
A peep up the ceiling over the altar area, at the bottom is the ceiling to one of the transepts.
Bottom up view of the dome ceiling, it's one of the most beautiful ceiling I have seen.
The archway leading to one of the rear shrines.
Intricate moulding at the soffit of the arch show the detailed craftsmanship put into it.
Similarly the ceiling over the shrine is very detailed.
___________________________________________________________________
A last look towards the rear of the church as we walked down the nave.
Salzburg Cathedral
Address: Domplatz 1a, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
Phone: +43-662-844189
Opening Hours:
8am-7pm (5pm in winter) (Closed November 6-24 & January 8 to April 7)
You may also like :
(comments most welcomed below. if you like this pls share via Facebook or Twitter)
No comments:
Post a Comment