This audio walk through the old town, in which we explore the Cathedral and its surroundings, is an ideal introduction to Vienna. We will be strolling through the historic centre of the city. Although Vienna has varied in size through the ages, it is in this neighbourhood, that history has been unfolding for almost 2,000 years now. It was here that the Hapsburg legend began. Here too, that the ceremonials and dramas of the Austrian Empire were played out, to the extent that it turned this little corner of Vienna into a sort of historical layer-cake, to be sampled slowly, layer by layer, right to the end.
Our route is circular, starting and finishing on the square in front of Saint Stephen’s Cathedral. It crosses the former university neighbourhood – where the Jesuit church is located – to reach the Central Post Office Savings Bank, a masterpiece by the architect Otto Wagner, only a stone’s throw from the Ring Boulevard. Then it’s on to the Fleischmarkt, the old meat market, a lively neighbourhood that leads us into Rotenturm Strasse, one of Vienna’s oldest thoroughfares. This then brings us back full circle to St. Stephen's Cathedral where we began.