St. Stephen's Dome

Here is a photo collage of the inside and outside of St. Stephen's Dome.

The church has stood on the site for over 800 years, but all that remains of the original 13th century Romanesque church are the Giant's Doorway and Heathen Towers seen in the top right corner. The rest of the church was rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries. Since it burned the last day of WWII, the outside stone is still black from soot.

We took an elevator up the North Tower,which gave a spectacular view.

Here we could see the colorful tiled roof consisting of 230,000 glazed tiles that measure 361 ft. in length. The eagle is a symbol of the empire ruled by the Hapsburgs. The roof was constructed in 1490 and suffered quite a bit of damage due the fire in 1945. The tiles were then carefully restored. It is really amazing.

I wasn't able to get many photos from inside the church, because it was so dark.

The one in the lower left hand side of the collage, is a self portrait of the architect of the church, Anton Pilgram, called "Fenstergucker". Loosely translated in English it means "window looker". I had to take a picture of this, because it reminded me of the man I always see looking out his window. He still refuses to wave back at me. I am getting more determined since my time left in Germany is drawing near.

Perhaps, he will wave good-bye.