SALZBURG CATHEDRAL (SALZBURGER DOM)

A monumental and imposing early-Baroque structure, this cathedral was built in 1614 to plans by Santino Solari, on the ruins of an earlier medieval cathedral dating from 774. Consecrated in 1628 to St. Rupert, the building was intended to compete with St. Peter's in Rome. It appears gigantic, and visitors are greeted by the superb main façade in Untersberg marble. Four imposing statues look down on you from above: the apostles Peter and Paul with key and sword, and the Land's two patron saints, Rupert and Virgil. The two coats of arms on the pediment evoke the cathedral's two builders, Markus Sittikus and Paris Lodron. The cathedral's forecourt, with its column of the Virgin Mary, forms the atrium. Every year, this square plays host to the Salzburg Festival's Jedermann. It's also the site of the popular Marché de l'Enfant-Jésus. This is the best way to admire the proportions of the octagonal dome (75 m high), frescoes and stuccoes. And to captivate you, it was here that the child Mozart was baptized, as well as Joseph Mohr, lyricist of the song Douce Nuit, Sainte Nui . Admire the bronze baptismal font (1311) with the lion (1200). The superb great organ, the cathedral portals by Schneider-Manzell, Mataré and Manzú and the seven bells complete the setting. In the Cathedral Museum, you can contemplate other artistic treasures that bear witness to a history spanning more than a thousand years.