Salzburg at night, Austria by Brandon Burns

1. Hohensalzburg Castle

At over 900 years old, Hohensalzburg Castle is Europe’s largest fully-preserved castle. There is not much to report in regards to its history, as it was never attacked. In the past it has served as a refuge for the archbishops, a military barracks, and a prison. The only time opposing forces occupied it was when it was given up to Napoleon without a fight. It is well worth the visit even if just for the views, they are the best in the city. You can either walk to the top, or catch a funicular.

Photo of Hohensalzburg Castle, Salzburg, Austria by Kristopher W

2. St Peter’s Church and Cemetery

St Peter’s Church houses the oldest continuously active monastery on German/Austrian soil. It was founded in 696AD, and the building you see today was built in the 17th C. Inside the nave are Fresco’s depicting the life of St Peter. The cemetery is well known for two things. Firstly it is where the scene from the Sound of Music was set when the Von Trapp family were hiding from the Nazi’s. Also, towards the back of the cemetery there are seven black wrought iron crosses. These crosses are connected to a famous legend, claiming these graves belong to Sebastian Stumpfegger and the seven wives here murdered. There is no proof of validity to this story, but everyone loves a legend! There are also catacombs inside the cliffs open to the public.

Photo of St Peter’s Church and Cemetery, Salzburg, Austria by Michael Dawes

3. Salzburg Cathedral

Mozart was baptised here, and he was the court organist and concert master of the church for many years. The church is renowned for its 4000 pipe organ, and the acoustics of the church. The church adjoins the Kapitelplatz and Residenzplatz which are both main squares of the Salzburg.

Salzburg Cathedral, Austria by barnyz

4. Mozart’s Birthplace

This is the original house where Mozart’s family lived from 1747 to 1773. Mozart was born here on Jan 27, 1756. Today the rooms once occupied by the Mozart family and are home to a museum. The most famous exhibits include Mozart’s childhood violin, his concert violin, his clavichord, the pianoforte, and portraits of the family.

Photo of Mozart’s Birthplace, Salzburg, Austria by Matthias

5. Mirabellgarten

The Mirabellgarten is a large garden considered to be one of the most beautiful gardens in Europe. The gardens were originally constructed in 1606 by Wolf Dietrich who built them for his mistress and her 15 children. The office of the Salzburg Mayor is situated here, and it recognisable as the gardens for the setting of the song ‘Do Re Me’ in the movie the Sound of Music.

Mirabellgarten, Salzburg, Austria by TheGoodReverend

6. St Augustiner Brewery

The St Augustiner Brewery is just outside the main part of town, situated above a 17th century Abbey. The beer was originally brewed by the Augustinain Hermits who founded the Abbey, and great lengths are taken to ensure the beer is still brewed the same way it was hundreds of years ago. The beer hall inside the brewery has plenty of seating, and there are food stalls offering traditional Austrian snacks and food. In the summer months there is a great beer garden for visitors to enjoy. If you are not interested in beer, the only other drink they serve is lemonade. It is a self-serve system were you buy tokens from a cashier, then help yourself to the ceramic beer steins. Each time you hand a token in, your stein will be filled with beer, and there are cleaning stations so that you can clean your stein before your next refill. The brewery has a great mix of locals and tourists alike, and it is likely you will strike up a friendly conversation with a group of people sitting nearby.

Photo of St Augustiner Brewery and beerhall, Salzburg, Austria by Barry Adams

This guest post was written by TravAddict, an Adventure Tour website featuring cheap tours to Europe, and other parts of the world.

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Kristian Dela Cour

Final finishing works were carried out under the guidance of architect Henry Hetzel. From 1529 until 1945 it served to the Protestants. It was destroyed during the World War II and then undergone extensive reconstruction, just like many other monuments in Poland. The interior of the church is furnished with a Gothic, manneristic and baroque furniture. You can see here also several memorial plaques of the leading local families.

This truly monstrous Gothic building has the shape of the cross and features a great nave and huge windows along the entire perimeter. You should visit it early in the morning when the sun is still low – it’s worth to wake up early!

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The excessively large church was built deliberately according to original plans of local residents. At a time when the church was being built, in the parish Kerimäki were 12,000 residents and pastor thought that at least half of them should be in the church on Sundays. However there are also some other theories that the architect made a project in inches and builder worked with centimetres, and thus built 2.54 times larger church.

Believers went to Kerimäki church from the entire region, across the lake they used the kirkkovene (church long ship).

This stunning white-ocher church will stun you already from the outside, but you cannot realize its size as much until you get inside and see its vast interior – the height of the nave is 27 meters. You’ll soon understand that it must have been impossible to heat the building. Originally there were eight stoves inside (now there are four), but it was still not enough, and thus they had to built a smaller, winter chapel for 300 people.

You can take part in the liturgy that is still held here in the main church in summer.

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The town of Monreale has today around 25 thousand inhabitants. Thanks to its location near the Sicilian capital city, Monreale has almost become one of the turbulent suburbs of Palermo. But if you visit this site, you should definitely visit The Cathedral of Monreale, which is thanks to its mosaics one of the greatest treasures of this Italian island.

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The Cathedral of Monreale is a kind of monument to Arab, Norman and Byzantine art and architecture. Its construction began in 1172 at the instigation of King William II, who wanted to use the cathedral as his tomb, after his death. Therefore, a court architects tried to overcome other royal temples. Not only the building itself, but also the decor was influenced by French, Islamic and Byzantine designs. The cathedral is a massive three-nave building, 102 meters long. However, it looks quite modest from the outside. West facade is, except of the portal to the ornate gates, very curt. Cathedral is in addition covered by a largely urban area with an adjacent monastery.

You can see the beautiful bronze door from 1186, which are decorated with 42 biblical scenes. There are features of a lion and a griffon here, which were symbols of the Norman royal family. On the left side of the church you can see another bronze door from the year 1179, which are mainly influenced by Byzantine art. But the main attraction is the cathedral’s interior.

So if you’re interested in art and history, the Cathedral of Monreale should really be included on the your must-see list.

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