7 Best Sights in Salzburg, Austria

Set within the beautiful Domplatz with the Virgin's Column in its center, this gorgeous cathedral is considered to be the first early-Italian Baroque building north of the Alps. Its facade is of marble, its towers reach 250 feet into the air, and it holds 10,000 people. There has been a cathedral on this spot since the 8th century, but the present structure dates from the 17th century. The cathedral honors the patron saint of Salzburg, St. Rupert, who founded Nonnberg Abbey around 700, and also the Irish St. Virgil, the founder of the first cathedral, consecrated in 774, whose relics lie buried beneath the altar. Archbishop Wolf-Dietrich took advantage of the old Romanesque-Gothic cathedral's destruction by fire in 1598 to demolish the remains and make plans for a huge new structure facing onto the Residenzplatz to reaffirm Salzburg's commitment to the Catholic cause. His successor, Markus Sittikus, and the new court architect, Santino Solari, started the present cathedral in 1614; it was consecrated with great ceremony in 1628 during the Thirty Years' War. The church's simple sepia-and-white interior, a peaceful counterpoint to the usual Baroque splendor, dates from a later renovation. To see remains of the old cathedral, go down the steps from the left-side aisle into the crypt where the archbishops from 1600 on are buried. Mozart's parents, Leopold and Anna-Maria, were married here in 1747 and Mozart was christened, the day after he was born, at the 14th-century font. He later served as organist here from 1779 to 1781 and wrote some of his compositions such as the Coronation Mass specifically for the cathedral. It was a good fit, as this is the only house of worship in the world with five independent fixed organs. Today, they are sometimes played together during special church-music concerts.

On Sunday and all Catholic holidays, mass is held at 10 am—the most glorious time to experience the cathedral's full splendor.

The Makartplatz—named after Hans Makart, the most famous Austrian painter of the mid-19th century—is dominated at the top (east) end by Fischer von Erlach's first architectural work in Salzburg, built between 1694 and 1702. It was modeled on a church by Borromini in Rome and prefigures von Erlach's Karlskirche in Vienna. Dominated by a lofty, oval-shape dome—which showcases a painting by Johann Michael Rottmayr—this church was the result of the archbishop's concern that Salzburg's Neustadt was developing in an overly haphazard manner. The church interior is small but perfectly proportioned, surmounted by its dome, whose trompe-l'oeil fresco seems to open up the church to the sky above.

Situated in the heart of Nonntal, one of Salzburg's oldest residential areas, this wonderfully colorful Italian Baroque church was built on the sight of a former hospital chapel in 1689. Fans of The Sound of Music may recognize the entrance staircase from the carriage-ride rendition of "Do-Re-Mi".

The graceful, tall spire of the Franciscan Church stands out from all other towers in Salzburg; the church itself encompasses the greatest diversity of architectural styles. There was a church on this spot as early as the 8th century, but it was destroyed by fire. The Romanesque nave of its replacement is still visible, as are other Romanesque features, such as a stone lion set into the steps leading to the pulpit. In the 15th century the choir was built in Gothic style, then crowned in the 18th century by an ornate red-marble-and-gilt altar designed by Austria's most famous Baroque architect, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. Mass—frequently featuring one of Mozart's compositions—is celebrated here on Sunday at 9 am.

Completed by Fischer von Erlach in 1707, this church, sometimes called the Universitätskirche, is one of the purest examples of Baroque architecture in Austria. Unencumbered by Rococo decorations, the modified Greek cross plan has a majestic dignity worthy of Palladio.

The most sumptuous church in Salzburg, St. Peter's is where Mozart's famed Great Mass in C Minor premiered in 1783; his wife, Constanze, sang the lead soprano role while Wolfgang directed the orchestra and choir and also played the organ. During the Salzburger Festspiele, the work is performed here during a special church-music concert. The porch has beautiful Romanesque vaulted arches from the original structure built in the 12th century. The interior was decorated in the voluptuous late-Baroque style when additions were made in the 1770s. Note the side chapel by the entrance, with the unusual crèche portraying the Flight into Egypt and the Massacre of the Innocents. Behind the Rupert Altar is the Felsengrab, a rock-face tomb where—according to a legend—St. Rupert himself was originally buried. To go from the sacred to the profane, head for the abbey's legendary St. Peter Stiftskulinarium restaurant, adjacent to the church.

The little village of Oberndorf, 18 km (11 miles) north of Salzburg, has one big claim to fame: it was here on Christmas Eve, 1818, that the world-famous Christmas carol "Silent Night" was sung for the first time. It was composed by the organist and schoolteacher Franz Gruber to a lyric by the local priest, Josef Mohr. The church was demolished and replaced in 1937 by this tiny commemorative chapel containing a copy of the original composition (the original is in the Salzburg Museum), stained-glass windows depicting Gruber and Mohr, and a Nativity scene. Behind the chapel, the Heimatmuseum documents the history of the carol. You can get to Oberndorf by the local train (opposite the main train station), by car along the B156 Lamprechtshausener Bundesstrasse, or by bicycle along the River Salzach.

Every December 24 at 5 pm, a traditional performance of the carol—two male voices plus guitar and choir—in front of the chapel is the introduction to Christmas.