St stephen's cathedral (Stephansdom) 

Seeing the Cathedral from the outside is jaw-dropping. It is so large and towering, I honestly think the South Tower of the Stephansdom might just be one of the tallest buildings in Vienna. The Stephansplatz, the street where the Stephansdom is located, was once a mass grave, but then all of the bodies were moved. Beneath the Stephansdom are catacombs, where all of the plague-dead are located, as well as the body of Rudol IV the Founder.

seeing the interior of the stephansdom for the first time ever

Mind-blowing, just mind-blowing. Just when I thought the Stephansdom was massive from the outside, it feels way bigger when you're actually inside the church. I was mind-blown by the Gothic architecture of the cathedral, by the amount of pillars, the glass-stained windows, the amount of statues present, the sheer number of altars dedicated to different saints, the chandeliers, the reverbs from our talking and footsteps, etc. European churches are built different than American ones, and I mean that quite literally. This church is literally older than my home country, and has seen way more history than it. This is what Evangelical megachurches wished they could be. Evangelical megachurches ain't got nothing on European Catholic cathedrals.

Wiener Neustädter altar

The Wiener Neustädter Altar at the head of the north nave was ordered in 1447 by Emperor Frederick III, whose tomb is located in the opposite direction. On the predella is his famous A.E.I.O.U. device. Frederick ordered it for the Cistercian Viktring Abbey (near Klagenfurt) where it remained until the abbey was closed in 1786 as part of Emperor Joseph II's anti-clericalreforms. It was then sent to the Cistercian monastery of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (founded by Emperor Frederick III) in the city of Wiener Neustadt, and finally sold in 1885 to St. Stephen's Cathedral when the Wiener Neustadt monastery was closed after merging with Heiligenkreuz Abbey. 

Originally, this altar was from Wiener Neustadt (lit. "Vienna New City"), hence the name. Wiener Neustadt was founded in the 12th century with a huge amount of money that was sent to Austria by the English in order to pay ransom for the release of King Richard III.

Frederick III's Burial

Frederick III, who coined the phrase AEIOU, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1452 until his death in 1493. He was the penultimate emperor to be crowned by the pope, and the last to be crowned in Rome. Prior to his imperial coronation, he was duke of the Inner Austrian lands of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola from 1424, and also acted as regent over the Duchy of Austria from 1439. He was elected and crowned King of Germany in 1440. His reign of 53 years is the longest in the history of the Holy Roman Empire or the German monarchy. Upon his death in 1493 he was succeeded by his son Maximilian. During his reign, Frederick concentrated on re-uniting the Habsburg "hereditary lands" of Austria and took a lesser interest in Imperial affairs. Nevertheless, by his dynastic entitlement to Hungary as well as by the Burgundian inheritance, he laid the foundations for the later Habsburg Empire. Despite being mocked as "Arch-Sleepyhead of the Holy Roman Empire" (German: Erzschlafmütze) during his lifetime, he is today increasingly seen as an effective ruler.

Frederick III died due to a combination of old age and leg amputation complications. After, he was buried in the Stephansdom Cathedral, where you can still see his sarcophagus to this day. 

More epic photos of Stephansdom

More pictures of the outside of the stephansdom