The University Church with its grandiose façade is one of the most magnificent Baroque churches in Austria. It feels light, open and airy – with the usually obscene dash of expansive marbles and gold, as no god could ever be happy without the usual riches. The chapels inside the church are dedicated to the patron saints of the university’s four faculties: St. Thomas Acquinas (Theology), St. Ivo (Jurisprudence), St. Luke (Medicine) and St. Catherine (Philosophy). The University Church had a moving destiny through the years. When Napoleon’s troups besieged the city in 1800 it was used as a hay store. In 1810, when Salzburg was transferred to Bavarian rule, the University was closed and the church lost its original purpose. During the Austro-Hungarian monarchy it served as a classical secondary school and military church. In 1922 the Church provided the setting for the première of Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s “Great World Theater”. Since the reopening of the University of Salzburg in 1964 the Church has regained its original purpose.
I Love this place! Can’t imagine what it must have been like in person
The scale of this church is impressive and at first it appears to be open and empty but as you look closer there is more and more detail. This is not as ornate as the Cathedral but in my view equally as beautiful.
And I forgot to mention, the cover of your coffee table book featuring church ceilings is the second last picture where the black iron “smiles” at you happily from behind the ornate plaster , luv, will need a copy of that btw
We are over 20,000 pictures and counting, there should be a few to pick from.