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The church façade is winged by two gate-houses that are reminiscent of Chinese pavilions and lead into the side entrances. At the centre of the façade is the stairway, above which is a pediment supported by six pillars.

Inspired by the ancient Roman column of Trajan, these columns are decorated with scenes of the life of St Karl Borromeo. The left column shows the quality of steadfastness and the right shows courage.

Lorenzo Mattielli designed a statue of the patron saint of the fight against the plague. It has pride of place on the church’s pediment.

The pediment resembles the covering of a Greek temple and its reliefs, designed by Giovanni Stanetti, show the suffering of the Viennese during the 1713 plague.

Two angels guard the stairway as a sign of Catholic belief. The angel on the left represents the Old Testament, the other the New Testament.

Johann Michael Rottmayr’s fresco on the dome depicts the Virgin Mary begging the Holy Trinity to deliver the population from the plague.

The typical Baroque-style high altar was probably designed by Fischer von Erlach himself. It features a stucco relief by Albert Camesina showing St Karl Borromeo being taken into heaven on a cloud laden with angels and cherubs.

The church’s richly gilded pulpit is surmounted by two cherubs on the canopy and is decorated with rocailles (scrolls) and garlands of flowers.

The side altars are decorated with several paintings but the most remarkable are those by master artist Daniel Gran. His famous paintings The Healing of a Gout Victim , Jesus and the Roman Captain and Saint Elisabeth of Hungary can be found in the church.

The setting of the Karlskirche is as impressive as its interior. In front of the church is a stone-paved pond with a modern sculpture by Henry Moore in the centre, deliberately designed to contrast with the Baroque style of the church.