Austria - Salzburg, Petersfriedhof

The Petersfriedhof (St. Peter's Cemetery) is a cemetery that looks more like a ‘park’. This oldest Christian cemetery in Salzburg is a quiet green oasis in the busy historical centre of the city. The cemetery is located at the foot of the Festungsberg. Petersfriedhof is probably of the same age as the St. Peter’s Abbey, which dates from the year 696.

The cemetery is surrounded on three sides by arcades and there are ancient graves of monks and inhabitants of Salzburg. Originally, this cemetery was only intended for residents of the monastery. Later, civilians were also buried in this atmospheric cemetery. The oldest surviving tombstone of the cemetery is that of abbot Dietmar, who died in 1288. The cemetery was closed in 1878 and the site decayed until in 1930 the monks of St. Peter's successfully urged for the admission of new burials.

In the middle of the cemetery stands the gothic Margarethenkapelle (Margaret Chapel) from 1491 (PiP4). On the outside wall of this chapel there are many old marble tombstones.