This large square was where the Babenbergs resided before rulers moved to the site of the Hofburg in the late 13th century. The attractive Mariensäule (Mary’s Column; 1667) rises up in the centre, but also look for house No 11, where a gold-painted cannonball is a reminder of the 1683 Turkish siege. The former Jesuit monastery Kirche Am Hof occupies the southeast side.
Kirche Am Hof has a baroque facade adapted from its fire-damaged Gothic predecessor and a hugely expansive nave lined with white pillars and topped with gold badges. It was here in 1806 that a royal herald announced the end of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the Habsburgs for about 500 years.
