Vienna - Basiliskenhaus

The Basiliskenhaus is also called the "House with the Red Cross", it is known to have existed as early as 1212. It is one of the oldest houses in Vienna. It was damaged by bombing in 1944, and has been restored in 16th C. style. There is a sandstone figure of a basilisk in a niche in the second story of the facade. Legend has it that a monster - half hen, half toad - hatched from an egg, lived in a deep well and made people ill with its poisonous breath or killed them by looking at them. One day an apprentice baker in love with a pretty baker's daughter took heart and bravely held a mirror up to the monster, which was so shocked at its appearance that it burst and turned to pieces of stone.