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One block south of the Bermuda Triangle, Fleischmarkt , the old meat market, straddles Rotenturmstrasse and extends east as far as Postgasse. Greek merchants settled here in the eighteenth century, and following the 1781 Toleranzpatent built their own Greek Orthodox church on Griechengasse. On Fleischmarkt itself, there's another, more imposing Griechische Kirche , a stripy red-brick affair redesigned in mock-Byzantine style in 1861 by Ringstrasse architect Theophil Hansen, its decorative castellations glistening with gilt. Opening hours are erratic, and you may not be able to get past the gloomy, arcaded vestibule - the best time to try is on a Sunday - to see the candlelit interior, pungent with incense and decorated with icons and gilded frescoes. Next door to the church is the popular inn, GriechenBeisl , a Viennese institution for over five centuries, and now firmly on the tour group itinerary. At the end of Fleischmarkt, turn right into Postgasse past another neo-Byzantine edifice, the Greek-Catholic church of St Barbara , and the Italianate Dominikanerkirche , and you'll come to Backerstrasse. One block west lies Dr-Ignaz-Seipel-Platz , named after the anti-Semitic leader of the Christian Socials, who became the country's chancellor in 1922. The east side is taken up by the Alte Universitat , founded by Rudolf IV in 1365, and thus the second oldest university (after Prague) in the German-speaking world. By the eighteenth century, the university had outgrown its original premises, and a more fanciful Baroque extension - now the Akademie der Wissenschaften (Academy of Sciences) - was built on the opposite side of the square. The building's barrel-vaulted Freskenraum, decorated with frescoes by Franz Maulbertsch, is occasionally open to the public for exhibitions (Mon-Fri 10.30am-5.30pm). Next door is the Jesuitenkirche (also known as the Universitatsk irche), whose flat facade rises up in giant tiers that tower over the square. Begun in 1627 at the peak of the Jesuits' power, this church smacks of the Counter-Reformation and is by far the most awesome High Baroque church in Vienna. Inside, the most striking features are the red and green barley-sugar spiral columns, the exquisitely carved pews and the clever trompe l'oeil dome - the illusion only works from the back of the church: walk towards the altar and the painting is revealed as a sham.
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