The city's Lutheran church, which has undergone many changes since it was first built in 158. At the time it was a Catholic monastery built at the behest of Queen Elizabeth of Austria. She lived there after becoming a widow, and the church is said to have been built to atone for the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. During the religious upheavals of the eighteenth century, the church was abandoned. In 1783 the monastery was bought and divided between the three new owners, the Lutheran Church and the Reformed Church, and a private investor who used his part to build a palace. At this time in Vienna's history, Protestant churches were not allowed to have spiers or any external decoration indicating a church, and the building was changed significantly during this time. It is one of the vital tourist attractions in the city.