Mount Mönchsberg — Monastic Mountain — got its name thanks to the Benedictine monks who founded St. Peter's Abbey at its northern foot. Catacombs are carved into the mountain itself, where hermit monks once sheltered. Ancient chapels can still be seen there today.
Mönchsberg is one of Salzburg's five mountain peaks. Technically, it is the smallest of them, with a height of 507 meters, but the others have little to boast about either — they are only a few meters higher than Mönchsberg. But right here, at the summit, stands the Museum of Modern Art, an impressive building in the modernist style.
Mönchsberg is sometimes called the "writers' rock." Peter Handke, the well-known Austrian writer and playwright, lived here for a long time. In addition, the great Thomas Bernhard mentioned Mönchsberg more than once in his autobiography. This place was also home to Gerhard Amanshauser.
People often go up the mountain simply to take a walk and breathe fresh air, because one side of its slope is covered with dense forests. You can also reach the summit by a special elevator, which was installed as far back as 1767. In 1766, a tunnel was dug through the mountain, connecting two parts of the city. This is one of the oldest tunnel roads in Europe.
