The Vergilius Chapel (german: Virgilkapelle) is an underground
crypt next to the
Stephansdom
St. Stephen's Cathedral (german: Stephansdom) is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Cardinal Schönborn, OP. The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedra ...
in
Vienna
en, Viennese
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, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. It is rectangular in form (approximately 6 meters by 10), with six niches. Today, it lies approximately 12 meters beneath the
Stephansplatz.
History
The history of the chapel is not entirely clear. The architecture can be dated to the early 13th century. At this time,
Frederick the Warlike (1230–1246), the last Duke of the
House of Babenberg
The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian Dukes and Margraves. Originally from Bamberg in the Duchy of Franconia (present-day Bavaria), the Babenbergs ruled the imperial Margraviate of Austria from its creation in 976 AD until its ...
, was the ruler of Vienna. It has been hypothesized that the Duke, who would have liked to have established Vienna as an
episcopal see, had the crypt built for St.
Coloman of Stockerau
Coloman of Stockerau ( ga, Colmán; la, Colomannus; died 18 October 1012) was an Irish saint. While on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, he was mistaken for a spy and hanged near Vienna.
Life
Originally known as Colmán (variously rendered Koloman, K ...
, who was to be the patron of the new
diocese
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...
. However, the chronicles do not mention the chapel, which has given rise to the speculation that it is the remnant of a failed project.
In the year 1307, a burial chapel of the Viennese family Chrannest is mentioned. The chapel was said to have multiple altars, one of which was dedicated to St.
Vergilius of Salzburg
Virgil (– 27 November 784), also spelled Vergil, Vergilius, Virgilius, Feirgil or Fearghal, was an Irish churchman and early astronomer. He left Ireland around 745, intending to visit the Holy Land; but, like many of his countrymen, he settle ...
.
In the Middle Ages, the Stephansdom was encircled by a large cemetery. A single small chapel, dedicated to St.
Mary Magdalene (the ''Magdalenskapelle'' or Magdalene Chapel), existed for consecrations and
requiem masses. The Virgilius Chapel lay directly underneath this chapel, and a vertical shaft connected the two buildings.
In 1782, the cemetery around the Stephansdom was closed. The Magdalene Chapel was destroyed by fire in 1781 and was not rebuilt (presumably as, without a cemetery, there was no need for a funeral chapel). The Virgilius Chapel was filled with rubble and faded into obscurity.
In 1973 the chapel was rediscovered during construction of the
Vienna U-Bahn
The Vienna U-Bahn (german: U-Bahn Wien), where ''U-Bahn'' is an abbreviation of the German term ''Untergrundbahn'' ( en, underground railway), is a rapid transit system serving Vienna, Austria. With the September 2017 opening of the , five-stati ...
. Today there is a mosaic on the Stephansplatz showing the outlines of the Virgilius Chapel. The chapel itself has survived with hardly any damage and provides the visitor with an excellent glance into the world of the Middle Ages.
Location
The Virgilius Chapel may be entered directly from the
Stephansplatz U-Bahn Station. It is possible to look into the chapel from above. A collection of historical ceramics has been installed at the entrance to the chapel itself.
External links
The Virgilkapelleat the spiritual travel guide, "Stationen" (in German).
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures in Innere Stadt
Roman Catholic churches in Vienna
Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century
Museums in Vienna
Religious museums in Austria
Vienna Museum