Graz Cathedral

Also known as Grazer Dom

The exterior south wall of Graz Cathedral holds a 15th-century fresco showing three divine punishments descending on Styria simultaneously: a plague of locusts, an outbreak of bubonic plague, and a Turkish invasion. All three were active threats when Frederick III commissioned the Landplagenbild in the 1480s.

Graz Cathedral is most interesting from the outside: its south wall preserves a 15th-century fresco (Landplagenbild) showing three simultaneous divine punishments that threatened Styria in the 1480s: locusts, plague, and Turkish invasion. The interior was rebuilt in Baroque style (elaborate gold, stucco, and ceiling painting) during the Counter-Reformation, the 17th-century Catholic response to Protestantism. The cathedral was commissioned by Emperor Frederick III, whose elaborate mausoleum is directly adjacent. Admission is free; it sits 2 minutes from Herrengasse in Graz’s center. The combination with the Mausoleum of Ferdinand II next door is one of the more historically layered stops in any Austrian city.