Sankt Pölten is the capital city of the Austrian State of Lower Austria. With 49,121 inhabitants (circa 2001) it is Lower Austria's largest city. Sankt Pölten is a city with its own statute (or Statutarstadt) and therefore it is both a municipality and a district in the Mostviertel.
The oldest part of the city is built on the site of the ancient Roman city Aelium Cetium that existed between the 2nd and the 4th century. In the year 799, it was called Treisma. Sankt Pölten became a town in 1050 and officially became a city in 1159. Until 1494 Sankt Pölten was part of the diocese Passau, and then became property of the state. A Benedictine monastery was founded in 771. In 1081 it hosted the Augustinian Chorherren and in 1784 their Kollegiatsstift closed. Since 1785, this building has hosted the cathedra of Sankt Pölten. The city became the capital of Lower Austria with a resolution by the Lower Austrian parliament on July 10, 1986. The Lower Austrian government has been hosted in Sankt Pölten since 1997.