Petersfriedhof, Salzburg, Austria

The Petersfriedhof or St. Peter's Cemetery is - together with the burial site at Nonnberg Abbey - the oldest cemetery in Salzburg. It is one of Salzburg's most popular tourist attractions. Its origins date back to about 700, when the adjacent St. Peter's Abbey was established by Saint Rupert of Salzburg. The abbey's cemetery, probably at the site of an even earlier burial place, was first mentioned in an 1139 deed, the oldest tombstone dates to 1288. Closed in 1878, the site decayed until in 1930 the monks of St. Peter's successfully urged for the admission of new burials.

Carved into the rock of the Festungsberg there are catacombs that may stem from the Early Christian days of Severinus of Noricum during the Migration Period. They include two chapels: The Maximuskapelle and the Gertraudenkapelle, consecrated in 1178 under the Salzburg Archbishop Conrad of Wittelsbach and dedicated to the assassinated Archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury.

A second chapel, The Margarethenkapelle, (re-)built in 1491, occupies a cite in the center of the cemetery.

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

Adrian Hajduk (6 months ago)
One of the most stunning and original burial sites in Europe. Great Opportunity to visit while sightseeing fortess and old town of Salzburg

Jodi (2 years ago)
Really beautiful but don’t bother with the catacombs.

Julio Cesar Torelli (2 years ago)
Adorable!

Seb Lamb (2 years ago)
Beautiful - and even idyllic - place to spent a couple of minutes.

Luke Phang (2 years ago)
The cemetery next to St Peter's Abbey. Quite a tranquil place to pay respects to the dead and to read the tombstones. There is a catacomb that you can visit too for a slight payment, but it's quite empty and not the same as the St Stephen in Vienna. There are more tourists here than the St Sebastian Cemetery opposite the river but it's still quite an interesting place to visit as the Sound of Music was filmed here too.

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