Salzburg Cathedral Dom

The southern side of Salzburg's Residenzplatz is dominated by the Cathedral (Dom, by Santino Solari, 1614-28), built of dark gray conglomerate from the Mönchsberg; the twin towers, 79m/259ft high, date from 1652-57. This was the first deliberately Italian style church to be built north of the Alps. The west front, facing the Domplatz, has four colossal statues of light colored marble, the outer ones representing St Rupert and Virgil, patron saints of the province (c. 1660), the inner ones Peter and Paul (1697-98).

The first cathedral, built by Abbot and Bishop Virgil in 767-74, was replaced at the end of the 12th C. by a five-aisled basilica, which was destroyed by fire in 1598. The present church, the third on the site, was severely damaged by bombs in 1944, but restoration was completed by 1959. The three massive bronze doors, with the symbols of Faith (left), Love (middle) and Hope (right) were the work of Toni Schneider-Manzell, Giacomo Manzu and Ewald Mataré (1957-58). The Cathedral can accommodate a congregation of more than 10,000. In the first side chapel on the left stands the font (1321), borne on 12th C. figures of lions, from the Romanesque cathedral, and in which Mozart was baptized.