The Rock Catacombs of St. Peter’s Abbey
A series of rock-cut chambers, carved into the cliffs of the Mönchsberg above St. Peter’s Abbey, tell dark stories of martyrdom.
Save
Nestled beneath the shadow of the looming Hohensalzburg Fortress, on the grounds of the 7th-century St. Peter's Abbey, lie a series of rock-cut chambers, carved directly into the cliffside of the Mönchsberg mountain. The site has a history that spans 1,700 years, with its beginnings traced to the 3rd century AD. The tales the catacombs tell of Christian martyrdom are almost as old.
After the fall of the Roman Empire at the hands of Odoacer in 476 AD, the Roman settlement of Lovavum in the province of Noricum (modern-day Austria) faded into obscurity for centuries. However, in 696 AD, a Benedictine missionary named Rupert, with the backing of Duke Theodo of Bavaria, came with the goal of spreading Christianity to the barbarian tribes along the Danube River, and established Lovavum as his seat.
St. Rupert gave the city a new name—Salzburg—named for the production of salt in the region, and himself became known as "Rupert of Salzburg" for his role in promoting the salt trade. Rupert of Salzburg established the monastery and church of St. Peter's on the plot of land adjacent to the ancient catacombs. The rock chambers within the catacombs were enlarged and put to use as a hermitage for the monastery of St. Peter's.
The cemetery of St. Peter's, sitting just outside the entrance to the catacombs, was inherited from the earliest Christian community in the area and predates the abbey itself.
The Gertraudenkapelle (Gertraude Chapel) sits on the first level, and is recessed into the rock with natural cave features and niches. The chapel was consecrated in 1178 to Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been murdered 8 years earlier by the decree of King Henry II for his opposition of royal tyranny over religious liberties. The chapel was later dedicated to St. Gertrude, for whom it is now named.
A fresco depicting the gruesome murder of Thomas Becket decorates the interior wall of the Gertraudenkapelle. Though the fresco is highly fragmented, the figures of Thomas Becket (kneeling in prayer) and the four knights who slew him can still be traced.
A commemorative tablet in the Maximuskapelle, inscribed in Latin and erected by Abbot Kilian Püttricher in the 16th century, recounts the lore of the murder of Maximus at the hands of barbarians. Püttricher incorrectly interpreted the actual martyr-figure Maximanius of Lovaicum to be Maximus of Lovavum, believing the account to be a forgotten chapter in Salzburg's Christian history. By erecting the tablet, the abbot perpetuated a false narrative of martyrdom associated with the abbey that has caused confusion for centuries.
Photograph by Isiwal/Wikimedia Commons
“In the year of our Lord 477, Odoacer, king of the Ruthenians, the Gepids, the Goths, the Hungarians, and the Herulians, raging against the church of God, threw headlong Saint Maximus, with fifty of his allies who were hiding in this cave, slain on account of their confession of faith, and they destroyed the province of the Norici with iron and fire.”
St. Severinus, as chronicled in his biography written by Eugippius, had a prophetic vision, and warned of the destruction of Loviacum by invading barbarians. The residents, including Maximanius, did not heed his warning and escape. The town was sacked by the Herulians. The account tells of Maximanius being martyred by hanging from a cross, though some believe that he was thrown from a cliff with 50 of his companions (the latter legend inspiring the plaque erected in the Maximuskapelle chapel).
