St Margarethen Roman Quarry

The Leithakalk quarry at Sankt Margarethen has been worked since Roman times - Carnuntum was built partly from it - and its later output includes stone for the Stephansdom in Vienna, the Votivkirche and much of the Ringstrasse, so a substantial part of the Austrian capital came out of this hole in Burgenland. Cutting has left tall vertical faces and blocky chambers. From 1959 an international sculpture symposium worked here, leaving pieces carved on site scattered through the ground. Since 1996 the quarry has held an opera festival, with a stage and seating for several thousand built against the rock face, and productions using the quarry walls as scenery; a Passion play ran here for decades before that. The Neusiedler See is a few kilometres east.

The main sights

• A Roman-era quarry - worked for two thousand years, supplying Vienna's landmarks.
• An opera stage in the rock - seating for thousands against the cut faces.
• Sculpture left on site - pieces from the symposium carved in the quarry from 1959.
• Tall cut faces - the vertical walls left by centuries of block extraction.

When to go

May to September; opera season is July and August. Half a day.

Practical notes

Access outside performance times can be limited by production build-up. Opera tickets are the main way in during summer. The quarry is exposed and hot; evening performances can be cold.

Nearby

Rust and the Neusiedler See are east; Eisenstadt is west.

Key facts