St. Stefan's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria, is not only famous for its spectacular Gothic architecture, but also for its huge underground tombs, which contain the hearts of many Members of the Habsburg Dynasty, thousands of white bones that died of the plague in 1679, and the tomb of Emperor Frederick III. Recently, archaeologists have "entered" the tomb of the Holy Roman Emperor to get a glimpse of what happened.
Frederick III (1415-1493) was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope, who was crowned frederick III in 1452 at the Basilica of Saint Stephen.
In 1513, 20 years after Frederick III's death, his son Maximilian I held a grand burial ceremony for him, officially burying him from the royal public tomb in the Basilica of Saint Stefan, and the sarcophagus used was never excavated, so archaeologists and historians are full of curiosity and desire to explore the situation inside the sarcophagus.
The huge sarcophagus used by Frederick III was made of red marble and was engraved with nearly 240 intricate patterns, and it took the famous Dutch sculptor Nikolaus Gerhaert van Leyden and his successors about 50 years to complete the engraving of all the patterns.
50 years ago, there was a rumor that frederick III's sarcophagus was empty, so the authorities drilled a small hole in the side of the sarcophagus and used equipment to confirm that there were indeed remains and funerary items.
In 2013, the 500th anniversary of Frederick III's burial in Sveti Stefan Cathedral, archaeologists used endoscopes to enter the inside of the sarcophagus through the same hole again, and in the six years since then, researchers have used various methods not only to take a large number of photos inside the sarcophagus, to figure out the layout inside the sarcophagus, but also to collect samples of the funerary items inside the sarcophagus.
As can be seen from the picture, the interior of the sarcophagus can be described as luxurious, the remains of Frederick III were placed on a glazed tile, and his body was covered with thick textiles, including linen and velvet cloth with filigree.
The two inner sides of the sarcophagus are gilded inscriptions on which the inscriptions praise the many achievements of Frederick III and detail the purchase of this luxurious tomb by Maximilian I for his father.
Frederick III's head was wrapped in linen, and he also wore a golden crown with many precious stones and carved plants and flowers, and a cross symbol on the front, symbolizing the holy rights of the pope and the emperor.
On the right side of Frederick III's body, there is a sphere with a cross, a beautifully carved scepter next to the sphere, and a long sword on the left side of his body. In addition, many metal and porcelain burial objects are scattered around his body.
More details about the tomb of Frederick III have been edited into the book "The Funeral of Frederick III", which contains a large number of pictures to give people a visual view of the lavish funeral of the emperor more than 500 years ago.
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Archaeologists opened frederick III's coffin
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