Fodor's Expert Review Petersfriedhof

The Altstadt Cemetery

Eerie but intimate, this is the oldest Christian graveyard in Austria, dating back to 1627. Enclosed on three sides by elegant wrought-iron grilles, Baroque arcades contain chapels belonging to Salzburg's old patrician families. The graveyard is far from mournful: the individual graves are tended with loving care, decorated with candles, fir branches, and flowers—especially pansies (because the name means "thoughts"). In Crypt XXXI is the grave of Santino Solari, architect of the cathedral; in XXXIX that of Sigmund Haffner, a patron for whom Mozart composed a symphony and named a serenade. The final communal Crypt LIV (by the so-called catacombs) contains the body of Mozart's sister Nannerl and the torso of Joseph Haydn's younger brother Michael (his head is in St. Peter's church). The cemetery is in the shadow of the Mönchsberg mount; note the early-Christian tombs carved in the rock face.

Cemetery

Quick Facts

Sankt-Peter-Bezirk 1
Salzburg, Salzburg  A-5020, Austria

0662-844–576–0

Sight Details:
Rate Includes: Daily dawn–dusk

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