Capuchin Monastery, Vienna, Capuchin monastery on Neuer Markt in Vienna, Austria
The Capuchin Monastery is a Capuchin convent on Neuer Markt in Vienna's Innere Stadt, founded in 1618 by Empress Anna and built from 1622. Its church, consecrated to Holy Mary of the Angels, is a plain single-nave building with a small porch and two side chapels: the ornate Imperial Chapel and the Pietà Chapel, which holds the tomb of Blessed Marco d'Aviano. The monastery itself was rebuilt in its present form between 1840 and 1842 under Emperor Ferdinand I.
Empress Anna (1585–1618), wife of Emperor Matthias, endowed the monastery, church and imperial crypt in her will of 1618. Under Ferdinand II the foundation stone was laid on 8 September 1622 at the Mehlmarkt; the Thirty Years' War delayed work and the church was finished only in 1632. The dilapidated convent was demolished in 1840–1842 and rebuilt in its present form under Ferdinand I.
The monastery church is dedicated to Holy Mary of the Angels and has two side chapels: the richly decorated Imperial Chapel and the Pietà Chapel, which holds the tomb of Blessed Marco d'Aviano. A larger-than-life statue of this preacher, who lived in the monastery in the 17th century, stands on the outer wall.
The monastery stands on Neuer Markt in the Innere Stadt, a few minutes on foot from the Hofburg and Stephansplatz. The church and the Capuchin Crypt are open to visitors, but the monastery rooms themselves are closed to the public apart from occasional exhibitions. The crypt lies beneath the church and monastery, entered from the church side.
The monastery rooms themselves are not open to the public, apart from occasional exhibitions; the crypt and church are separate. The crypt was enlarged eight times over the centuries, and the oldest section, the Gründergruft, lies roughly beneath the Kaiserkapelle. The church facade was reconstructed between 1934 and 1936 from historical images.
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