Blutgasse, the street of blood

You are in one of the most sinister-sounding streets in Vienna: Blutgasse, the "street of blood". And, as so often happens, the name has generated its own legend.

1The massacre of the Templars

According to tradition, in 1312, the year Pope Clement V suppressed the Order of the Temple, the Knights Templar living in a courtyard on this street were murdered and their blood ran down the cobbles, giving the street its name. It is a much-repeated story, but historians have taken it apart: there is no document to back it up.

2What the archives say

The records tell a far less heroic story. In the 14th century this lane was called Kothgässel, roughly "mud alley". The name Blutgasse first appears in 1563, and no one has been able to explain why with any certainty. Some think of butchers, others of a family name; no theory is proven.

A muddy alley became, thanks to a name, the scene of an imaginary massacre.

3Courtyards with galleries

In the 1960s the quarter was restored and some courtyards with open galleries, the "Pawlatschen" typical of old Viennese houses, were opened to passers-by. The so-called Fähnrichshof, at numbers 7 and 9, is among the oldest buildings in the area. And just round the corner, at Domgasse 5, Mozart lived from 1784 to 1787 and wrote "The Marriage of Figaro"; today it is a museum.

4What to look for

• The open doorways: peek respectfully into the galleried courtyards.
• The curve of the street, which keeps its medieval line.
• The cathedral spire, rising above the roofs.