Imperial Crypt

For nearly four centuries the Habsburgs were buried not in a grand cathedral but in a crypt beneath a modest Capuchin friary church just off the Kaerntner Strasse, and visiting it is one of the most powerful experiences in Vienna. The Kaisergruft was founded by Empress Anna in the early seventeenth century, and since the 1630s it has received the remains of around 150 members of the dynasty, including 12 emperors and more than 20 empresses and queens. The Capuchin friars still look after it. The visit leads through a sequence of vaults built as the family grew, and walking them in order is like reading the history of the monarchy in metal. The early vaults are austere. Then come the great Baroque sarcophagi of the eighteenth century, decorated with skulls, crowns and battle scenes, culminating in the double tomb of Maria Theresa and her husband Francis Stephen, a Rococo masterpiece in which the couple sit up in bed facing each other while an angel sounds the trumpet of the Last Judgement. Maria Theresa herself designed much of the space around it and came down here often to visit her husband after his death. Her son Joseph II, the reforming emperor, chose the opposite: a plain copper coffin at the foot of his parents' grand tomb. The later vaults bring you into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Franz Joseph lies between his wife Empress Elisabeth, Sisi, still the most visited tomb and often decorated with flowers, and their son Crown Prince Rudolf, who died at Mayerling in 1889. The last empress, Zita, was buried here in 1989, and her son Otto von Habsburg in 2011. A curious footnote: by Habsburg custom, the hearts of many family members are kept in the Augustinian Church and their entrails in St Stephens Cathedral.

How to visit: the entrance is on Neuer Markt, beside the Capuchin Church, a few minutes from the State Opera and Stephansplatz. The crypt opens daily from morning to early evening, and admission is around fifteen euros, with reductions; the Vienna City Card and major sightseeing passes are accepted. Guided tours run daily, with an English tour around midday and several German tours, and they are worth taking because the vaults have few labels and the stories behind the coffins are the point. Otherwise, a visit on your own takes around forty-five minutes. The vaults are cool all year, so bring a layer in summer.

Getting the most from it: follow the vaults in chronological order so the story builds. Spend time with the Maria Theresa double sarcophagus, the artistic high point, and notice the contrast with Joseph II's plain coffin just in front of it. In the Franz Joseph vault, the trio of emperor, Sisi and Rudolf is the emotional centre of the visit. Many monarchist and royalist visitors still leave flowers and ribbons, and you may come across a commemoration. Be quiet and respectful; this is still a place of burial in the care of a religious community.

Who it suits: history buffs, of course, and anyone who has visited Schonbrunn or the Hofburg and wants to see where the story ends; it completes the Habsburg circuit better than any other sight. It is also a strong choice on a rainy day and for first-time visitors with only an hour to spare in the centre. Pair it with the Albertina and the State Opera nearby, the Imperial Treasury in the Hofburg, or the Augustinian Church on Josefsplatz, where the hearts of the Habsburgs are kept.