Mozart mass in the Salz Dom!

This morning was a very unique musical experience - we heard Mozart's Piccolomini Mass (K 258) in the Salzburg Dom! This church is gigantic, built in the 1600's. There are FIVE organs...a big one in the back and four smaller ones on the pillars surrounding the great altar. The choir was very talented, and the main organ was beautiful. They even played with an orchestra! All of the musicians were in the organ loft at the back of the church. I'm grateful that we sat near the back, because - no joke - there is a 10+ second ring in this place! However, I kind of wish we'd sat on one of the sideways benches so I could have looked back and watched the singers. :)

The church itself has a very interesting history - information courtesy of our awesome tour guide this afternoon. The first church on the site was built in the late 700's, and mysteriously burned down when one of the more cunning rulers came to power...he just so happened to have plans for a new church in his pocket the next day. The GIGANTIC church was built in just 14 years, while most cathedrals took generations. Mozart was organist there (Salzburg is his hometown) for three years. In 1944, another organist was the only person in the building when a bomb meant for the train station destroyed the dome of the church. The dome and the floor were all that was damaged, and the organist was not physically harmed - but how terrifying would that be?! It took 14 years for modern architects to rebuild and reopen the church...the same amount of time it took to originally build the entire thing. I can't even imagine how many people musthave been working, and how fast, on the original project! 

Yesterday, we also visited the crypts of the church which house almost every former Archbishop.

Salzburg, overall, has a very rich history, and I'm looking forward to our next two days here and more exploring!