Unbekanntes unterirdisches Wien

Unknown Underground Vienna


Useful Information

Location: Michaelerplatz 5, Vienna.
Meeting point: Michaelerplatz 5, in front of St. Michael's Church. Nearest underground station U3 Herrengasse, exit Herrengasse.
(48.208057, 16.367033)
Open: All year Wed 13:30.
[2023]
Fee: Adults EUR 25, Children (0-18) EUR 15, Students EUR 23.
Additional entrance fees.
[2023]
Classification: SubterraneaCatacomb SubterraneaCrypt
Light: none, bring electric torch
Dimension:
Guided tours: D=1.5 h, Max=20.
Photography: allowed, except for the crypt
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:
Address: Vienna Walks and Talks, Timmermann & Co OG, Werdertorgasse 9/2, 1010 Wien, Tel: +43-1-7748901, Fax: +43-1-7748933. E-mail: contact
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1784 catacombs closed.

Description

Like many other cities of the World, Vienna has a lot of underground structures. Many of them were badly damaged or destroyed in World War II or in the course of post-war developments, like the construction of Metro lines. But Vienna still offers some spectacular subterranea. The guides of Vienna Walks and Talks give you an interesting view into this subterranean city. They offer numerous guided walks with different topics, two of them are underground walks.

The Unbekanntes unterirdisches Wien (Unknown Underground Vienna) tour shows several underground passageways around Michaelerplatz. The tour starts with the crypts of the church St. Michael, one of the oldest churches in Vienna. There are also Baroque catacombs, in other words and an underground cemetery. Over the course of about 150 years, some 4,000 people have been buried here. Among them is the famous 18th century court poet Pietro Metastasio, whose drama La clemenza di Tito was set to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The vaults are full of wooden coffins, some with beautifully painted flowers and inscriptions. They are full of mummified corpses with frock coats and wigs. Particularly impressive are also the tombs of the high noble Trautson family and the glass coffin of St. Julius, a Roman catacomb saint. Other stops are the historic wine cellars and Roman and medieval excavations. The Die Michaelerkirche: Vom Dach bis unter die Erde (From Attic to Catacombs – St. Michael’s Treasures) tour is similar but concentrates on the church.

The tour Der Tod in Wien - Phantastisches und Bombastisches aus der Welt der "Schönen Leich" (Death in Vienna - Curiosities and Oddities from the Realm of the Dead) is mostly above ground but includes the burial vault of the Church of the Capuchin Friars. More than 150 members of the Habsburg dynasty were laid to rest in the most elaborate sarcophagi designed by the greatest artists of their time. It also includes the Herzgruft (Heart Crypt) at St. Augustine church.

They also offer a Third Man Tours, but their tour is only above ground. The movie has an important part where Orson Welles is hunted by Joseph Cotten through the sewers, but this tour only includes the above ground film locations.

If you are really interested in the underground, it's probably the best strategy to visit the site directly without a tour. The crypts, the Roman excavations, and the catacombs are all normal tourist sites and open to the public. The guided tour does not include the entrance fee, you have to pay the fees additionally. So if you would like to spend more time there you should go without a tour. The tour is quite helpful when you want a lot of information from a knowledgable guide with the chance to ask question.