Although the Roman Catholic parish church (also know as the Church of St. Jerome) can trace its origins back to the 13th century it wasn’t consecrated until 1611. Tucked away in a quiet square of Vienna’s Innere Stadt in the medieval heart of the city, it remains one of the capital’s most overlooked secrets.

From the outside, its stark Renaissance façade would suggest the interiors might follow the same restrained and austere design, yet stepping through the doors reveals quite the opposite; a striking Baroque spectacle of gilded ornamentation, polished marble, and vivid frescoes. Built during the transition from Renaissance sobriety to Baroque exuberance, the church embodies a dramatic contrast, its plain exterior standing as a deliberate juxtaposition to the world of theatrical splendour that awaits within.

As you step inside you are greeted with a shadowed and moody atmosphere, where Baroque grandeur is mixed with a macabre spirit. The nave glimmers with gilded flourishes, polished stone, and painted ceilings, while the high altar, crafted by Andrea Pozzo, dominates the space with its ingenious play of perspective.

Hidden behind the monumental altar is Vienna’s oldest pipe organ designed by Johann Wockerl in 1642. Often played by Mozart, remarkably 90% of its original components remain intact after more than three centuries. Even today, its sound continues to fill the space during concerts and recitals, allowing visitors to hear music as it was experienced centuries ago.

What captivated me most was the paradox at the heart of the church, the mix of divine glory and memento mori, where beauty and mortality entwine. Within its chapels rest the bejewelled skeletons of catacomb saints, exhumed from Rome and brought to Vienna during the Counter-Reformation. Encased in glass reliquaries, they are adorned with silks, gemstones, and gold embroidery, all as reminders that death is not an end but a passage to eternity.

The dim lighting and sombre artworks create an eerie yet magnificent ambience. Worshippers encounter death not as decay but as a spectacle, elevated into a vision of salvation. Though it may not rival Vienna’s grandest churches in scale, the Franciscan Church surpasses them in atmosphere with its sacred theatre and transcendent beauty.