St. Peter Stiftskulinarium
St. Peter Stiftskulinarium is a restaurant within the St Peter's Abbey in Salzburg, Austria. It is speculated to have been operating since before AD 803, making it the oldest inn in Central Europe, and the oldest currently operating restaurant in the world.
History
The earliest recorded mention of St. Peter Stiftskulinarium was in a letter to Charlemagne written in AD 803. Local legend states that Christopher Columbus, Johann Georg Faust, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ate at the restaurant. In its early history, the restaurant gave food for free to religious pilgrims. French soldiers were given quarters in the inn during the Napoleonic Wars. In modern times it has served political figures such as Bill Clinton, Alexander Van der Bellen, and other European leaders.As the restaurant has closed a few times throughout its history, it is not the oldest continuously-operating restaurant in the world; that is Sobrino de Botín in Spain, which has operated since 1725.