The ''Peterskirche'' ( en, St. Peter's Church) is a Baroque

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

parish church in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. It was transferred in 1970 by the

Archbishop of Vienna The Archbishop of Vienna is the prelate of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna who is concurrently the metropolitan bishop of its ecclesiastical province which includes the dioceses of Eisenstadt, Linz and St. Pölten. From 1469 to 1513, bi ...

Franz Cardinal König to the priests of the Opus Dei.

The first church

The oldest church building (of which nothing remains today) dates back to the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

, and there is speculation that it could be the oldest church in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(see Ruprechtskirche). That Roman church was built on the site of a Roman encampment. This church was replaced with a Romanesque church with a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and two

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

s. It is believed to have been established by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

around 800, although there is no evidence supporting this view. At the outside of the church, there is a relief

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

by R. Weyr consecrated to the founding of the church by Charlemagne. In any case, a church of

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

in Vienna is first mentioned in 1137. Around the end of the 12th century, the church became part of the

Schottenstift The Schottenstift ( en, Scottish Abbey), formally called Benediktinerabtei unserer Lieben Frau zu den Schotten ( en, Benedictine Abbey of Our Dear Lady of the Scots), is a Catholic monastery founded in Vienna in 1155 when Henry II of Austria brou ...

. The mediaeval church had three

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

s, with an

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

in the south instead of the normal eastern orientation. This unusual feature has triggered many discussions among experts, and it is suspected that the church was adapted from a previously secular building. The church was surrounded by shops, and a nearby building housed the ''Stadtguardia'', a forerunner of the modern police. The old church burned down in 1661 and was given only makeshift repairs. The decision to build a new church was taken up with the arrival of the Fraternity of the Holy Trinity of which the emperor Leopold I was a member. He had taken a vow to rebuild this church when Vienna was ravaged by the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

in 1679–1680.

The new building

The construction of the new Baroque church was begun around 1701 under Gabriele Montani, who was replaced by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt in 1703. The design was inspired by the

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Francesco Martinelli was the main architect. By 1722, most of the building was finished, and in 1733 the ''Peterskirche'' was finally consecrated to the Holy Trinity. The new church was the first domed structure in baroque Vienna. Due to the confinement of available space, it was built in a compact form, with its oval interior housing an astonishing amount of space and rectangular attachments. The church's interior has a lot of gold stucco. The

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

ed dome was mainly designed by

Matthias Steinl Matthias Steinl (otherwise Steindel, Staindle, Steindl or Stinle) (c. 1644–18 April 1727) was an Austrian painter, architect and designer, and one of the country's best known Baroque art, Baroque sculptors. Together with Johann Bernhard Fisc ...

, who was also responsible for the interior decoration and the pews with cherubic heads. The frescoes were originally painted by the Italian Andrea Pozzo, whose paintings were removed after his death. As a result, in 1713, Johann Michael Rottmayr was able to start a completely new set. The fresco in the cupola represents the ''Coronation of Our Lady''. On the triumphal arch one can see the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of emperor Leopold I. In the

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...

s around the dome are portrayals of the four Evangelists and four Fathers of the Church, painted by the Viennese artist J.G. Schmidt. The same artist also painted the altarpiece in the side chapel of St. Michael. The Baroque high altar was created by Antonio Galli Bibiena and his Bolognese workshop (construction) and Martino Altomonte (1657–1745) ( altarpiece). The altarpiece portrays the ''Healing of the Lame by St. Peter and St. John in Jerusalem''. The same artist also painted the altarpiece in the side chapel of the

Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the fir ...

. The small painting of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, meaning that it is held to be a divinely revealed truth w ...

above the

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

is by the 19th century artist Kupelwieser. The

shrine A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...

s in the side chapels of the Holy Family and St. Michael contain

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s from Roman catacombs, donated by Cardinal Kollonitz in 1733. They were clothed in this period and placed in the glass coffins. The gilded pulpit is a by

(1726) with on top of the canopy a representation of the Holy Trinity. Opposite the pulpit there is a gold-and-silver representation of the ''Martyrdom of St.

John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) ( cs, Jan Nepomucký; german: Johannes Nepomuk; la, Ioannes Nepomucenus) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus ...

'', sculpted by

Lorenzo Mattielli Lorenzo Mattielli (1678/1688 ? – 27 or 28 April 1748) was an Italian sculptor from the Late Baroque period. His name has also variously been written as ''Matielli'', ''Mattiely'', ''Matthielli'', and ''Mathielli''. He supplied statuary for pal ...

. On top of it is a statue of ''The Mother of God''. Over the years, the paintings had become darker, and the interior began to take on a grey appearance. From 1998 to 2004, the church underwent a renovation, which returned the paintings to their original colouring and brightness.

Access

The Peterskirche is located on Petersplatz, right next to Graben and just west of the Pestsäule. The street ''Jungferngasse'' cuts through the

pedestrian zone Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

and leads directly to the church. The Peterskirche is largely obscured by the surrounding buildings, and can only be seen clearly from directly in front.

Gallery

Wien - Peterskirche, Innenansicht.JPG, Interior view from the gallery Iglesia de San Pedro, Viena, Austria, 2020-01-31, DD 92.jpg, Interior of Peterskirche Iglesia de San Pedro, Viena, Austria, 2020-01-31, DD 89-91 HDR.jpg, Detail of the dome's frescoes St. Peters Church (Peterskirche) (7815694026).jpg, ''Coronation of Our Lady'' fresco Interior_of_St._Peter's_Church,_Vienna.jpg, ''The Heart of Mary'' in the side chapel of St. Antony Peterskirche Kanzel 2, Vienna.jpg, Baroque pulpit Organ of St. Peter's Church (2).jpg, Organ Peterskirche Vienna plan.svg, Groundplan

References

*The information in this article is partly based on a translation of its German counterpart :de:Peterskirche (Wien). *St. Peter's Church, a small English guide - available in the church. *Eyewitness Travel Guides - Vienna (in Dutch translation : Capitool reisgidsen: Wenen); Dorling Kindersley Ltd. Londen, 1994

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peters Church, Vienna Churches completed in 1733

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

Opus Dei Baroque architecture in Vienna Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt Church buildings with domes