Advertisement
Published: December 31st 2006
Edit Blog Post
St. Stephen's Cathedral
Amazing roof. Gothic building which is just incredible. Had a nice day today. Again, wish I had more time in this city but need to keep moving! This morning, our Tour Director took us out on a short walking tour so we could get orientated to the city. She does an excellent job, love all the facts and historical references that she gives us. Vienna was "formed" back in 996 and celebrated its 1000th anniversary a few years back. Much of Vienna is "green" because they have a large number of parks and trees. Probably in deference to the Vienna Woods which surround them. It makes it a beautiful city. Funny story...they have a statue in town of the "last Soviet soldier". As part of the treaty when Russia finally left, they cannot take the statue down. So, instead, those Austrians have gotten pretty creative and put a fountain up directly in front of it and on most days the fountain will shoot so high that you can't see the statue! Our tour guide stated that most who live in Vienna rent but renting is different here than in the States. It's more like a condo only you never end up owning it, yet you can make changes to
Statue of Mozart
Located in the gardens behind the Hoffburg. it if you want and will it to your heirs. The rent is government controlled so makes it affordable. Most people own country homes located outside of town and rent in town.
The Habsburg family ruled Austria for some time. We stopped at the winter palace (called the Hoffburg) and got around and had a good look around. Took a bunch of pictures of the winter palace and went in back to the gardens and got a good picture of the Mozart statue. Also walked around the front and their so-called Square of Heroes. Our tour leader (who is from Vienna) commented that, unfortunately, only 2 statues were there. Most of the palace is now used for government offices. I missed out on an excursion of being able to go see the summer palace. Missed opportunity there unfortunately because it was supposed to be spectacular. Vienna is considered "the cultural" or "imperial" city. It's a City of Music because it was once home to Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss. Considered to have the world's top in orchestras and choirs. Vienna was a city built with a ring (street) going around the historical center which makes it a little easier to
Inside of St. Stephen's
It's dark because those old churches didn't have great lighting but you can still get a feel for the building. navigate as a result. We were shown the "Golden Cabbage" as those in Vienna call it and also shown a statue which was built following the Plague. The statue is very striking with its skeletons on it. After that, our walking tour was over and we were out on our own.
So many amazing buildings to see. It's almost overwhelming. The styles are all so different and no two buildings are the same. Just amazing. Headed off to the furthest church that I wanted to see, the Votiv Kirche. Very striking but being renovated so there was a big tarp like thing up. One of the newer churches having been started in the late 1800s. Walked by their National History building which was another amazing structure. Also walked by the oldest church in Vienna, Ruprechtrskirche, in a Romanesque style. Another church we stumbled upon was Peterskirche, which was another Baroque style church which I believe was built in the mid-late 1700s. Yet another church we saw was Minoritenkirche, which was built in a French Cathedral style and begun in 1275. So many churches and all so unique from each other!
Was able to go see St. Stephen’s Cathedral
Statue to the Plague
Unsettling statue which was erected by those who survived the Plague. which is a famous landmark for Vienna and was on my must see list. Construction began around 1147 AD at the direction of the Habsburg nobles. So hard to get a good picture of it because the city is built right up around it so you can't get back far enough to get it all in the frame. At least not with my camera and my amateur photography. St. Stephen's roof is amazing and so unique for a church with its diamond tile-like design. The stained glass windows inside use the same colors as the roof. Classic gothic style inside and out. Another wonderful thing about St. Stephen's is that it's one of the few churches I've been in where photography is allowed! I snapped quite a few pictures as a result. Not great lighting inside but I have pictures. The center part of the church was roped up just for tour groups and we didn't have time for that but were able to walk along the sides and get a good feel for the church and its many stations. The other incredible part of the church is its tower. Basically as high as a 45 story building! You can
climb the tower stairs for a few euro. I wish I would have done it. Another gal in our tour group did and she said it was quite the workout but I bet the views were stunning. I can't believe that during the Middle Ages they were able to design and construct something like this. They are currently doing renovations on Stephens but it's costing a lot of money, I guess, so progress is very slow.
We ended our site seeing the Charles Church or Karlskirche which is a completely different style of architecture with its massive dome and Baroque style. Construction began in 1715 so was constructed much later than St. Stephen’s. The subway stop located near it is extremely unique with its art noveau style. I know it seems like all I did was look at churches today and that was pretty much what happened. They are amazing buildings and when you look back to those historical days and what got built, it was either palaces or churches. As a result, that's where the amazing architecture is located. And, in Vienna, there are so many different styles as you can see from my pictures.
I had
company today which can be good and bad. As a result of having company with today, I didn't end up climbing a tower to get those great aerial views that I love. So regret not just going off and doing that. Another missed opportunity. Seems like I had a lot in Vienna. Just not enough time to do everything, I guess. Didn't get to go into any museums. I must come back!
Tonight, several of us went to a classical concert. Was held in a concert hall (Wiener Konzerthaus) that was commissioned in the early 1900s for concerts. Listed to Vienna musicians play Strauss and Mozart. I'll always be able to say that I listened to Mozart in a Vienna concert hall! Way cool.
Tomorrow, we're off to Prague. I am so excited! Prague was the city on this tour I most wanted to see. Can't imagine what it can be like after seeing what I've seen so far!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.165s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 19; qc: 95; dbt: 0.1169s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
Todd
non-member comment
Nice Photographs of Vienna
These are nice photos of Vienna, Austria and getting me excited for my first visit there in May 2007. Thank you :) Peace, Todd