Description
St. Stephan's Cathedral in Passau is a Baroque episcopal church, built between 1668 and 1692. It is located at the highest elevation between rivers Danube and Inn, which coalesce only a few steps further down the road. Lavishly renovated in the 2000s, the cathedral now shines in all its white glory. Along with Veste Oberhaus, it is one of Passau's landmarks.
Adjacent to the church, you can find the Domhof court, with a cloister dating back to the year 739. Initially, there were 10 chapels here. However, only four of them still exist today, the mosut famous one being Andreaskapelle. Sixtuskapelle houses Earl Heinrich IV of Ortenburg's tomb. The other two chapels are called Trennbach-Kapelle and Salvator-Kapelle.
Passau's St. Stephan is mainly known for boasting the largest cathedral organ in the world, with 233 stops and a total of 17,974 pipes. Concerts take place every day, on a more or less regular basis. You can book concerts and organ tours for groups as well. Contact the bishopric at least ten days in advance.
The cathedral square in front of the church is also home to Passau's christmas market, which is certainly worth a visit if you come during the season. You can get to the diocese and cathedral treasure museum, exhibiting sacred art as well as numerous baroque books, through the right side aisle of the cathedral. Old and New Episcopal Residence are adjacent.
How to get there
St Stephan's Cathedral is located in the centre of Passau's old town. You can get to the city using motorway A3 from Regensburg. From Linz, use the Austrian motorway A8, which becomes A3 after the border. Exit at Passau-Nord, -Mitte, or -Süd. You will be able to see the cathedral from afar.