Belvedere Palaces

Lower Palace

Upper Palace

VIENNA

Castle serie.

Visited by Henning Høholt

VIENNA/AUSTRIA: Upon visiting Vienna, of course the famouse Wiene Stats Opera, and The Wienna concerthalls are hits, furthermore the wonderfull castles . Schönbrun and the Belvedere Castle, placed very centrally in Vienna, and easy to visit only a few minutes walk from the old central part of Vienna.

In Kulturkompassets seria of visits to Castles and Residences, we are this time visiting Belvedere, both the upper palace and the lover palace.

This summer palace was commissioned by Prince Eugene of Savoy and is situated between Rennweg and Schweizergarten. Its name, which refers to the unique view over Vienna, originates from the time of Maria Theresia.

The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna, Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces (the Upper and Lower Belvedere), the Orangery, and the Palace Stables

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The Lower Belvedere castle was built between 1714 and 1716. It is an elongated single storey building consisting of a seven-axial central projection, two wings and two corner pavilions.

The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district of the city, on the south-eastern edge of its centre. It houses the Belvedere museum.

The grounds are set on a gentle gradient and include decorative tiered fountains and cascades, Baroque sculptures, and majestic wrought iron gates.

Belvedere, Wien, From the parc
. Foto Henning Høholt

 The Baroque palace complex was built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy.

The Belvedere was built during a period of extensive construction in Vienna, which at the time was both the imperial capital and home to the ruling Habsburg dynasty. This period of prosperity followed on from the commander-in-chief Prince Eugene of Savoy’s successful conclusion of a series of wars against the Ottoman Empire.

The plan for the construction of the Upper Belvedere in its current form replaced the primary idea of the construction of a gloriette ‘‘with a beautiful view of the city’’. The construction work took place between 1717 and 1723.

The Upper Belvedere primarily had a representative function at the time of the Prince and served as an imperial painting gallery from the second half of 1770’s. For this purpose, the paintings were brought from the Stallberg to the Upper Belvedere after 1776, where they were accessible to the public.

Personally we were very impressed by the charming cafe in the ground floor of the left wing seen from the garden side.

A Lovely atmosphaere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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