There was an Italien Chocolate Festival this week in Vienna. Mostly, it was a few booths set up with delicious things to look at and buy, but who would want to miss out on that? Chris and I took Elora and Oliver to check it out this morning.
There were several different booths, all featuring delicious truffles, bricks of chocolate, and some fancy sculpted chocolates – like chocolate tools, Disney characters, and shoes. The kids loved looking at all of it and got some free samples at almost every booth. We ended up buying some yummy truffles to take home and share. They were a bit pricey, but looked so beautiful (and delicious)!
Chris got himself and the kids some hot chocolate which was basically a melted dark chocolate bar in a cup. It was very tasty, but I couldn’t drink it plain! We stopped at the bakery for some bread to dip in it.
A few months ago, Elora pointed out a tall, old church tower while going toward a train station close to our apartment and asked what it was. I had never noticed it before and didn’t know what it was. Awhile later she thought it must be the oldest church in Vienna she had seen in a guide book, but we knew it couldn’t be based on the location. Today I was explaining to Chris that the U-Bahn stop we got off at today I had only been to once before (eight years ago) and went out a different exit near a church, but where we came out it looked completely different with no church in sight. As we were walking toward home today, I glanced down and side street and saw a church! We walked towards it and I realized it was the one I had been remembering all these years. When we walked around the side of it I realized it was the tower Elora pointed out months ago that had us all baffled as to what and where it was.
It is a beautiful building, with an old tower, but the lower half looks much newer. I researched more about it when we got home, and here are a couple things I learned, courtesy of Wikipedia:
“The site on which the church is built was given to followers of Francis of Assisi in 1224. The foundation stone was laid by King Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1276. Duke Albrecht II later supported the building process, especially the main portal. The Gothic Ludwig choir was built between 1316 and 1328, and used as a mausoleum in the 14th and 15th centuries. Construction of the church was completed in 1350.
The top of its belltower was damaged during the first Austro-Turkish war, rebuilt, then again destroyed again during the second Austro-Turkish war; the top was then replaced by a flat roof.”
It is built on the Minoritenplatz, one of the oldest public squares in the city.
“There is a life-sized copy of Leonardo da Vinci‘s The Last Supper on the church’s northern wall. It is a mosaic made by the Roman mosaic artist Giacomo Raffaelli, commissioned by Napoleon I in 1809. Francis II of Austria bought it, wanting to install it in the Belvedere in Vienna. As it was too large for the building, it was set up on the north wall of the church, where it remains to this day.”
We also saw this intricate model on the other side of the church and stood looking at it for a long time wondering what the scene represents. As we turned to leave Oliver got really excited and told me to look at the display again – it is a nativity! Look closely and find Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus off to the left. I am so excited that we solved multiple mysteries today – for me rediscovering a place I once was a long time ago, and for Elora to find the mystery tower!
