Markuskirche (Salzburg)

The Markuskirche stands in Salzburg’s old town beside the Salzach, squeezed between the steep face of the Mönchsberg and the city’s fortress wall. Built as a chapel in 1618, it became the Ursuline convent church in 1699 and still shows Fischer von Erlach’s flowing Baroque lines. In 1999 the building was handed to the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic community, so today Byzantine liturgy fills its nave. Inside, the church surprises with rich stucco vaults and vivid frescoes from 1756. Four towering statues guard the wrought-iron screen of 1705, while the high altar by Wolfgang Hagenauer shows Saint Mark with a sweeping altarpiece. A 1760s pulpit carries allegories of Faith, Hope and Charity, and the 1886 organ was removed in the 1970s to open the great north window. The former Ursuline convent next door now houses the Haus der Natur museum, its trapezium wings enclosing a quiet courtyard. A dinosaur hall occupies the old garden, and the Gstättengasse portal leads to a youth centre. The whole complex forms part of Salzburg’s UNESCO-listed historic core.