College students at the University of Vienna are using a 19th-century church as a classroom

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the University of Vienna has moved classes to the nearby Votive Church.JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images

• The University of Vienna in Austria searched for spaces where its 90,000 students could learn while social distancing.
• The Votive Church in Vienna is now temporarily being used by students to study and take online classes.
• People can still access the space to pray and attend church services.
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At the University of Vienna, some students don't head to the library. Instead, they grab their laptop to study in the 19th-century Votivkirche, or Votive Church, in Vienna, Austria.

There, students study notes as sunlight streams through stained-glass windows. They sit in pews and tune into online lectures. Classmates discuss topics against a neo-Gothic-style backdrop.

With precautions in place, many Austrian universities have decided to welcome students back to campus. But the University of Austria needed to find more space for its nearly 90,000 students to study — so it rented out a church.

From praying to psychology homework, the Votive Church in Vienna now welcomes both churchgoers and students to its spacious building.

Take a look inside.