Sankt Leopold auf dem Leopoldsberg

St Leopold's Church sits at 425 metres on the Leopoldsberg, the eastern foothill of the Vienna Woods directly above the Danube. It is dedicated to Saint Margrave Leopold III, patron saint of Lower Austria, on the site of his former hilltop castle. Emperor Leopold I had the church built in 1679 in thanks for surviving the plague; the Ottoman siege of 1683 badly damaged it and the building was rebuilt in Baroque form. From the forecourt the view sweeps across the Vienna basin, the Lobau wetlands and on clear days as far as the Hungarian hills. In summer hikers climb up via Kahlenbergerdorf; in winter the narrow ridge path becomes a quiet pilgrimage route. A parish from Nussdorf still cares for the church today.