St. Michael's Church
History, Mozart, Catacombs, and More
Take a trip to visit the iconic and unusual St. Michael's Church, whose building dates back to the late Romanesque period. Experts believe the altar room was built between 1327 and 1340, whereas the lower parts of the tower were built later. In the following centuries, the church was rebuilt and modified several times. It has stood in its current form since 1792. The church is actually the first place where Mozart's "Requiem" was performed.
Nowadays, the most popular part of St. Michael's church is its catacombs. Between 1631 and 1784, approximately 4,000 people were buried there, and due to something about its unusual environment, bodies in the catacombs do not decompose. One can still see hundreds of coffins decorated with flowers and skulls. And there are mummified corpses, some preserved with baroque frock-coats and wigs. This is the burial place of Pietro Metastasio, who wrote some of the librettos of Mozart's operas.
