Franciscan

The Franciscan Church of St. Jerome in Vienna is located on Franciscanerplatz Square, where the fountain of Moses stands (by Johann Martin Fischer, 1798). This Roman Catholic church was built in 1607 in the Renaissance style with Gothic elements. Its history began as early as 1451, when Saint Johannes Capistran, a Franciscan reformer of the Minorites, read his famous sermons in the courtyard of Stefansfried. He founded the residence of the Order dedicated to Saint Theobalt. In 1589, the city community allowed the Franciscan Order to occupy the abandoned monastery of St. Jerome, built in 1383-1387.

The current appearance of the Franciscan Church combines the eclectic style of several trends and eras, which does not violate the overall harmony of the building. The fronton, which stands out above the narrow facades, is crowned with the image of the Trinity with three faces (later banned by church canons). In the center of the facade is a sculpture of Jerome with a lion lying at his feet, on the sides at the base of the pediment of the image of St. Louis of France and St. Clara of Assisi, the patroness of the female branch of the Franciscans.

The interior is decorated with altars, the creation of Baroque painters Carl Carlone, Johann Martin Schmidt, Franz Xaver Wagenschen. The Franciscan Church is famous for the oldest organ in the city, the work of master Johann Weckerl in 1643. It is installed in the choir behind the main altar, which was painted in 1707 by the artist Andrea Pozzo. The altar is decorated with a wooden statue of Our Lady with an axe in the left shoulder, made in Grunberg in the XV century. According to legend, the Protestants tried to destroy her, but she remained unharmed.