The Jewish quarter and the medieval lanes
Whiteread's memorial, the oldest church in Vienna, and the lanes that predate the boulevard. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Blutgasse
Start from the cathedral and slip into the *Blutgasse* (the lane's grim old name needs no translating) — a stair-and-courtyard quarter of medieval houses just behind the *Stephansdom*. Look through the open gateways at the linked courtyards; this is the oldest grain of the city, and it's a minute from the busiest square.

2. Schönlaterngasse
Wind round to the *Schönlaterngasse* (the lane of the beautiful lantern), curved and quiet, with the wrought-iron lantern that names it and the Basilisk House along its run. Read the wall plaque about the basilisk legend — it's the city telling a tall tale on itself.

3. Judenplatz
On to *Judenplatz*, the square at the centre of medieval Jewish Vienna. Rachel Whiteread's Holocaust memorial — a sealed concrete library, the books turned spine-inward — sits in the middle. Stand with it a while. The *Misrachi-Haus* on the square runs the museum and the excavated medieval synagogue beneath.

4. Ruprechtskirche
Down toward the canal to the *Ruprechtskirche* (St Rupert's), the oldest church in Vienna, small and ivy-grown on its mound above the old port. It's often locked, but the worn stone and the plain Romanesque tower are the point; circle it once.

5. Hoher Markt & the Ankeruhr
Cut to the *Hoher Markt*, the city's oldest square, for the *Ankeruhr* (the Anker Clock) — an Art Nouveau bridge-clock where, at noon, a procession of historical figures crosses the dial to music. Time it for twelve if you can; the rest of the hour, a single figure marks the time.

6. Bermuda Triangle to Schwedenplatz
Finish through the so-called *Bermuda Triangle*, the knot of narrow bar-lined lanes around *Ruprechtsplatz* and *Rabensteig*. Quiet by morning, loud by night. *Schwedenplatz* and the U1/U4 are on the canal at the bottom.

The Jewish quarter and the medieval lanes