Austria, Salzburg: The Stage of the World

Mozart's City

Salzburg is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and since 1880 there has been a museum at his birthplace. It is home to the Mozarteum Foundation, which administers the legacy of master composer and organizes an annual summer classical music festival. The combination of Mozart's music and the historic Baroque city is really perfect. The concerts are held in churches, in the castle, in castles and in other representative spaces. There is also the possibility to listen to live music in the restaurant, in Sternbräu, the monastery's cellar in St. Peter's Monastery. It is said that Christopher Columbus dined here, although he was, of course, deprived of Mozart's music.

Hohensalzburg, Extensive Medieval Castle

The fortress above the city, which adorns all the photographs of Salzburg, was founded in the 11th century and completed and enlarged in the years to come. It has never been conquered, so today we have the unique opportunity to admire this stone jewel in its full beauty. The castle was the seat of the archbishops who even lived there in a militarily turbulent age.

Salzburg Dome

The credit for building the city's largest cathedral is attributed to Archbishop Mark Sittik and the builder Santino Solari. This first baroque temple north of the Alps was consecrated in 1628. Its dome rises to a height of 72 meters and its two towers are still 7 meters tall. The celebration of consecration took place once more in the year 1959, when the reconstruction of the temple destroyed by the bombing during the WWII.

The Cemetery of St Peter and Catacombs

The most ancient place in Salzburg is the monastery of St Peter with adjacent cemetery and catacombs. The history of the Benedictines began 1300 years ago and continues to this day. Below the castle in the rock, ancient Salzburgers built rock chapels connected by a corridor. Today they are referred to as catacombs, still burying beneath them and the place has a unique charm. The cemetery, surrounded by arcades and towers of nearby churches, is accessible from a small courtyard where the wild water of the Almkanal spins the mill wheel under the supervision of the st. John of Nepomuk.

Salzburg, Salcburk i Solnohrad

Salzburg is called Salzburg and Salzburg, and as the name suggests, the city has gained its wealth and importance through salt mining. In the surrounding area, in the Salzkammergut, there are several mine-accessible mine workings where you can get acquainted with the mining history in a very impressive and attractive way. For example, a 36 m long slide is known, along which miners rode through the floors of the mine, and today tourists in the Berchtesgaden Mine may also take a ride.

The necessity of transporting salt from Salzburg to Bohemia was in the years 1827-1836 behind the construction of the famous horse-drawn railway from Gmunden to Linz and České Budějovice.

We, the Czechs, love the movie, so Zdeněk Svěrák of Three Veterans is probably reminded of it: “Salzburg… Salzburg… I wasn't there either.” If this is true of you, hurry in the trail of the princess's nose to fill this tourist experience gap. You'll see it's worth it.

GPS: 47°47'59.9"N 13°02'40.3"E

Text: Radka Snížková

Photos: Radka Snížková, Pixabay