The Basilisk House

Look up at the niche of number 7. That animal-shaped stone is the basilisk of Vienna, the city's most famous monster.

1The monster in the well

Legend sets the story on 26 June 1212. In the well of the house belonging to the baker Martin Garhiebl, a hideous creature appeared, half rooster and half toad, whose breath poisoned anyone who came near. The most widespread version adds that a brave young man climbed down into the well with a mirror: the basilisk saw its own reflection and died of fright, turned to stone. The well was then filled in with rocks.

2Where the story comes from

The first person to write it down was the humanist Wolfgang Lazius, in 1546, more than three centuries after the supposed date. In 1577 the owner of the house, the bookseller Hans Spannring, put up a plaque recalling the event. In the 19th century the geologist Eduard Suess offered a rational explanation: the toxic gases that sometimes build up at the bottom of wells could kill anyone who went down, and that may have inspired the tale.

A well full of gas, an oddly shaped lump of stone and centuries of imagination: that is how a monster is born.

3The street of the lantern

Schönlaterngasse means "street of the beautiful lantern". It owes its name to an ornate lantern that hung on one of its houses; the one you see today at number 6 is a copy. The painting of the youth with the mirror and the inscription have been renewed several times in the 20th century, and the stone figure is actually a natural sandstone concretion.

4What to look for

• The stone figure in the niche, with its whimsical shape.
• The inscription summing up the legend beneath the painting.
• The iron lantern that gives the street its name.