Basiliskenhaus is a famous tourist attraction in Vienna. However, there is a story behind the emergence of the venue as a popular tourist spot. It was believed that a beast called Basilisk, which was a cross breed of a toad and a cock, used to live at the place during 1212. The Basilisk lived inside a well.
The beast had a power by which he turned everybody into stone. The master baker Garhibl lived and worked at this place during his lifetime. His apprentice, being very clever, held a mirror in front of the beast which reflected its own image and was transformed into a stone.
A portrait and an inscription remind the visitors of the heroic feet achieved by the apprentice. Therefore, walking down the alleys of Basiliskenhaus takes one on a journey down memory lane. The sculptures of the young apprentice and the beast are present inside the well to this date which makes the tourists ponder what had really happened.
