During my visit to Vienna, I found something interesting when passing through the U-Bahn station of Stephansplatz – a window into an underground crypt.
The Vergilius Chapel (German: Virgilkapelle) dated back to the early 13th century, with the Magdalene Chapel being constructed above it in the Middle Ages to serve the neighbour cemetery. After the Magdalene Chapel was destroyed by fire in 1781, the Vergilius Chapel was abandoned and filled with rubble. It was then forgotten until 1973, when it was rediscovered during construction of the Vienna U-Bahn.
Today the chapel lies approximately 12 meters beneath the Stephansplatz, with access provided via the adjacent U-Bahn station concourse since December 2015.
Some examples elsewhere
The ruins of the Bastille prison can be found on the Line 5 platform at Bastille station on the Paris Metro.
Serdika II station on the Sofia Metro has glass display cases along the platform, with prehistoric and ancient artefacts on show.
And from Greece
The Athens Metro takes the cake, with eight stations featuring archaeological finds unearthed during construction of the system.
Syntagma station features a large exhibition space.
As does Panepistimio station.
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And finally, Egaleo and Elaionas station.
Further reading
- Storming the Bastille in 1789, Finding the Bastille Today – Archaeology Travel
- Serdika II Metro Station: Gateway to Sofia’s Roman Past – Archaeology Travel
- Next Stop, Ancient Athens: A subway ride through time – Shaun Busuttil
