Traces of the Ottoman Empire in Vienna

The most well-known of these belongs to a Janissary soldier named Çerkes Dayı. Today, there is a statue of Çerkes Dayı on top of an apartment building in Vienna. The story of this statue was told by our world-famous traveler Evliya Çelebi in his renowned work Seyahatname. Çerkes Dayı was one of the first Ottoman soldiers to enter the city through a breach opened during the battle. During the First Siege of Vienna, a statue was erected on the facade of the building at the corner of Strauchgasse and Heidenschuss streets in memory of this Ottoman soldier, who charged into the city alone with his horse and sword through a breach opened by an Ottoman cannon and fought to the death. Another trace of the Ottomans in the city is the cannonballs. Some of the cannonballs that fell in various parts of the city in 1683 were kept by Viennese people as a measure of great popularity. The Viennese regarded the Ottoman defeat as the beginning of their own era. The greatest symbol of this understanding can be found in one of the city's most important places of worship, St. Stephen's Cathedral. In St. Stephen's Cathedral, where the people of Vienna sought refuge during the siege, a statue depicting an Ottoman Janissary soldier underfoot is on display.

Traces of the Ottoman Empire in Vienna

Vienna, the last piece of land reached by Islamic armies in Central Europe, became an unforgettable memory both for the Ottomans and for Austria. Even after centuries, artifacts related to the Ottoman Empire can still be found in different parts of Vienna.