Capuchin Church, Catholic church in Innere Stadt, Austria

The Capuchin Church, officially the Church of Saint Mary of the Angels, is an aisleless church with a barrel vault, a small porch and two side chapels. Its peach-colored gabled facade carries a reddish-brown cross, a round window and a fresco restored in 2016. Inside, a dark wooden high altar with a curved top and painted panels stands at the far end.

Empress Anna of Tyrol, wife of Emperor Matthias, bequeathed the monastery and church in her will of 1618. Ferdinand II laid the foundation stone on 8 September 1622 at the Mehlmarkt; the Thirty Years' War delayed work, and the church was consecrated in 1632. Since 1633 the crypt beneath has served as the Habsburgs' principal place of entombment.

The church's official name is Saint Mary of the Angels, and its side chapel, the Kaiserkapelle, holds a venerated Mariahilf image and life-size statues of Habsburg rulers. The chapel became a pilgrimage site for Viennese citizens and nobility. The Pietàkapelle contains a marble altar with a life-size Pietà by Peter Strudel, moved there from the crypt at the end of the 18th century.

The building is walkable and easy to find from the street, with regular opening times for visitors. It is best to remain quiet and respectful while inside, as it continues to function as a place of worship where services and private prayers take place.

The church holds the tomb of Capuchin friar Marco d'Aviano, who died in 1699 and is buried in the Pietà Chapel before its altar. A marble altar with a life-sized Pietà by Peter Strudel stands there; the tomb of Capuchin minister general Paul von Colindres, who died in Vienna in 1766, lies in the same floor.