St. Peter's Abbey - Salzburg Archabbey
St. Peter's Abbey was founded in the 7th century and is considered the oldest monastery still in existence in the German-speaking world. Along with the impressive Christian architecture, St. Peter's cemetery and the catacombs are a popular tourist attraction in Salzburg.
The first Abbey Church of St. Peter was built in 696 by Rupert, Bishop of Worms. Today's Abbey Church was built in the 12th century and remodelled several times over the centuries, and today combines elements of Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo styles. The historic main organ and the various chapels are particularly interesting. The museum of St. Peter and the Long Gallery are accessible via the DomQuartier.
St Peter's Cemetery was built in late antiquity and is therefore older than the archabbey itself. Numerous funerary monuments and crypts around the late-Gothic Margarethenkapelle in the centre of the grounds make St Peter's Cemetery so impressive. Famous personalities, artists, scholars and merchants found their final resting place here. The catacombs are caves carved into the fortress hill. They are most likely of late antique-early Christian origin and did not serve as burial sites but as early Christian meeting places. International visitors recognise the cemetery and catacombs as familiar settings from the film The Sound of Music.
Mozart and Hayden are closely associated with St. Peter's Abbey. In 1769, thirteen-year-old Mozart composed the Dominicus mass for the abbot and a few years later Michael Haydn wrote the Rupertus mass commissioned by the abbey. Today, the Baroque Hall in St. Peter's Stiftskulinarium restaurant and the Romanesque Hall are regularly used for concert events such as the Mozart Dinner Concert.
In keeping with Benedictine tradition, the Archabbey of St. Peter also has several businesses. The St. Peter's Abbey Bakery and the St. Peter's Stiftskulinarium are well worth a visit.
