Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts

Gardens of Mirabell Palace, Salzburg Austria


Mirabell Palace is a historical building in the city of Salzburg, Austria. The palace with its gardens is a listed cultural heritage monument and part of the Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built about 1606 outside the medieval walls of Salzburg according to Italian and French models, at the behest of Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich Raitenau as a residence for his mistress Salome Alt. When Raitenau was deposed and arrested in 1612, Alt and her family were expelled and the palace received its current name from Italian: mirabile, bella: "amazing", "wonderful". It was rebuilt in a lavish Baroque style from 1710, according to plans designed by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt. On 1 June 1815 the later King Otto of Greece was born here, while his father, the Wittelsbach crown prince Ludwig I of Bavaria served as stadtholder in the former Electorate of Salzburg. The current Neoclasical appearance dates from about 1818, when the place was restored after a blaze. In its geometrically-arranged gardens are mythology-themed statues dating from 1730 and four groups of sculpture (Eneas, Hercules, Paris and Pluton) by the Italian sculptor Ottavio Mosto, from 1690. It is noted for its boxwood layouts.

 Source: fineartamerica.com/featured/majestic-salzburg-garden-carol-groenen.html

 Source: flickr.com/photos/paulschlarman/6170611679/

 Source: flickr.com/photos/48909387@N08/6482549563/in/photostream/

 Source: 500px.com/photo/33748021/winged-horse-in-mirabell-gardens-salzburg-austria-by-robert-torres


Hallstatt Village, Gmunden Austria


Hallstatt, Upper Austria, is a village in the Salzkammergut, a region in Austria. It is located near the Hallstätter lake. At the 2001 census, it had 946 inhabitants. Alexander Scheutz has been mayor of Hallstatt since 2009. Hallstatt is known for its production of salt, dating back to prehistoric times, and gave its name to the Hallstatt culture, a culture often linked to Celtic, Proto-Celtic, and pre-Illyrian peoples in Early Iron Age Europe, c.800–450 BC. Some of the earliest archaeological evidence for the Celts was found in Hallstatt. Salt was a valuable resource, so the region was historically very wealthy. It is possible to tour the world's first known salt mine, located above downtown Hallstatt.

The village also gave its name to the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture and is a World Heritage Site for Cultural Heritage. Hallstatt is a popular tourist attraction owing to its small-town appeal and can be toured on foot in ten minutes.

 Source: 500px.com/photo/15097653/rainy-night-in-hallstatt-by-s-srichuwong

Source: 500px.com/photo/37357426/welcome-hallstatt-by-navalarp-teratanatorn

Source: afeeftannous.com/still_life

Source: 500px.com/photo/4272297/living-on-the-hillside