Medieval Legends and Monsters

A tree trunk armored in thousands of hand-forged iron nails sits encased behind a glass grate at the corner of a grand palace. This is the Stock im Eisen, the namesake of the surrounding square. Medieval apprentices hammered these nails…

The multicolored roof tiles of St. Stephen's Cathedral form a massive, zigzagging pattern of yellow, green, and blue that dominates the Vienna skyline. This Gothic structure rose over the ruins of two earlier churches starting in the…

Blutgasse is a narrow, winding alleyway that slices through the old medieval core of Vienna. Its buildings feature thick, whitewashed walls and small, iron-studded doorways that appear unchanged for centuries. Legend claims the street…

A wolf and a cow sit across from each other at a small table, hunched over a backgammon board in a quiet corner of the city. This painted scene marks the entrance to a centuries-old courtyard. It rests on a wall where, according to local…

The Basiliskenhaus at Schonlaterngasse seven is marked by a stone relief embedded high on the facade, depicting a creature with a rooster's head and a dragon's tail. Legend says a baker’s apprentice killed the beast in a well here in…

The Pfarrkirche Maria Rotunda stands out by its massive, oval dome that dominates the skyline of the Jesuit district. Built in the early seventeenth century for the Jesuit order, the church replaced an earlier structure to serve as a…

The Griechenbeisl features a crooked, butter-yellow exterior that looks like it is leaning into the narrow alley of Fleischmarkt. This restaurant dates back to at least fourteen forty-seven. Inside, a room called the Mark Twain Zimmer…

St. Rupert's Church sits on a small rise above the Danube Canal, identifiable by a sturdy, square Romanesque tower that predates the surrounding city streets. It holds the title of the oldest church in Vienna, with foundations dating back…