Tyrol (Austria) -- Description and travel; Tyrol (Austria) -- History
Michael Haydn, too, composer of much fine church music, was a resident
in Salzburg and has a rather commonplace monument erected to his
memory in St. Peter's Church. The latter is in the Romanesque style,
founded in the middle of the twelfth century, and badly restored in
the middle of the eighteenth, and is of great interest to the
antiquarian and student of architecture. The portal consists of seven
arches which gradually diminish in size, and are inlaid with strips of
white and red marble. The very remarkable archings which strike one
directly one has entered the building are portions of the original
church. On a small altar near the vestry is a well-carved statue of
the Virgin, said to be the work of one of the Archbishops, of about
the end of the twelfth century, although there appears little real
evidence in support of the suggestion.
The frescoes in the nave, representing scenes from the Crucifixion,
painted in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, are worth study.
In Salzburg considerable store is set upon the monuments in the
church, but few rank high as works of art, although marking the graves
or being memorials of distinguished and historic persons connected
with the city's life in the past.
The beautiful though ruinous cemetery of St. Peter, which, with its
crumbling tombs of the great dead, interesting and quaint mural
tablets, and arcaded vaults belonging to some of the most important
and famous Salzburg families, lies at the foot of the Mönchsberg, is,
as well as the most picturesque, the oldest cemetery in Salzburg. It
is difficult to exaggerate the interest and charm of the spot; always
still, although set in the midst of a city, and within a few hundred
yards of the principal and busiest thoroughfares. That it possesses a
wonderful and mysterious attraction for tourists we can testify; and,
indeed, we would almost go as far as to say that one meets more
English and American visitors in this peaceful corner of the city than
in any other spot on the southern side of the Salzach.
The celebrated Monastery of St. Peter, founded by St. Rupertus in
(about) 582, was, until the first decade of the twelfth century, the
residence of the bishops and archbishops of the diocese. The present
building was erected during the reign of Archbishop Max Gandolph
during the period covered by the years 1661-1674. It can be visited,
and the library is full of the most interesting and valuable MSS.,
early copper plate engravings, and consists of about 45,000 volumes
and some 250 illuminated and other MSS., chiefly upon parchment.
Several of the latter and some of the early printed books are
practically priceless. The Librarian is always delighted to exhibit
the treasures under his charge, and in him we found (as doubtless will
all intelligent bibliophiles) a kindred spirit, and a most interesting
cicerone.
[Sidenote: THE MUSEUM]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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