Baroque churches in Salzburg

The construction of the great Cathedral in the middle of the Old City was ordered by the famous Prince Archbishop Wolf Dietrich von Raitenau at the beginning of the 17th century and is without a doubt the city's most impressive sacred edifice. It is the first of many significant sacred buildings of the Baroque era. The old and venerable St. Peter's Abbey nearby is not only a Baroque masterpiece on the interior with its elegant Rokoko ornamentation but also on the exterior with the central dome and the tower's striking onion-shaped cupula.

The Franciscan Church adjoining the Cathedral and St. Peter's district appears to be a purely Gothic structure from the outside but part of its interior reveals an ornate and interesting Baroque decor. A series of significant sacred buildings were constructed around 1700 and became the dominant architectural centers of individual city sectors with their generous squares and adjoining buildings such as the university, priest's residence, cloister or hospital. Fully committed to the Italian Baroque are St. Erhard's Church in Nonntal and St. Cajetan's Church.

The climax of sacred Baroque architecture is reflected in the buildings of probably the most prominent Baroque architect, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach the Church of the Holy Trinity, the Ursuline Church, St. John's Hospital and Church and the University or Collegiate Church,whose magnificent façades contribute to the city's unique character. But those are not the only Baroque churches by far - in the city center we find St. Michael's Church, St. Sebastian's Church, St. John's am Imberg, the Capuchin Church and the Loreto Church; several beautiful Baroque churches, such as the parish churches in Mülln, Gnigl and Aigen are located in the suburbs and the twin-towered façade of the pilgrimage church of Maria Plain on the outskirts.