St. Peter’s Cemetery

St. Peter’s District is really the oldest part of Salzburg. The first monks, headed by Saint Rupert, settled here. The rest of the city started to spread out slowly around the monastery. Today you can still see catacombs cut in the rock of the Moechsberg and originating from 215 A.D.

St. Peter’s cemetery is the oldest one in Austria still in use. Only priests and monks were buried here up to the year 1454. The arcades around the cemetery are family vaults from the 17th century with various examples of wrought iron work.

Obviously, St. Peter’s Cemetery was a good inspiration for the movie makers: It was rebuilt in the Hollywood studios for the scene when the Nazis were searching for the von Trapps and the family was hiding behind the tombstones. St. Peter’s Church can also be seen in the opening scene.