Behind the walls of a prestigious-looking palace and forerunner of German Baroque, the Graz Arsenal shelters the only arms collection of its kind in the world. When arriving from the lively and busy Herrengasse, you are suddenly projected three cen..

Seat of the former Styrian Diet since the 16C, the Landhaus is one of Graz's finest Renaissance palaces. The main façade, with its handsome round-arched windows and elegant doorway, hides the Italianate elegance of its three-storey arcaded courtya..

The magnificent Mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II is undoubtedly Graz's most unusual building. It gracefully combines Mannerist Austrian Baroque with the theatrical splendour of Rome's great churches. The initial work of the Italian Pietro de Pomis ..

Graz's Old Town is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. From the top of the picturesque Schlossberg Hill overlooking it, visitors can enjoy a scene of reddish-brown roofs crowned by onion-shaped belfries. This partly-pedestrianized district ..

This great square in the heart of the Old Town, is where the main shopping avenues end, with incessant comings and goings of trams and mixed crowds thronging round market stalls. In the centre, the Archduke Johann Fountain (1878) is dedicated to th..

Emperor Friedrich III had this cathedral built in the 15C. Since then, rich Baroque decoration has been added to the elegant ribbed vaults. On the outside wall, the " Curses painting " recalls the three scourges suffered by Graz in the lat..

The Kälbernes Viertel , or "Calf Quarter" as the locals call it due to a former cattle market, is a maze of narrow streets around the Franciscans square, stretching from the Mur to the Hauptplatz. Visitors can stroll in the Neue-Welt-Gasse..

The double stairway housed in one of the provincial government (Landesregierung) buildings is all that remains of the castle built by emperors Friedrich III and Maximilian I. From the first floor, visitors can see the clever way in which it winds aro..

The Town Park surrounds the Old Town to the east over a wide area. This fine landscaped park runs along the line of the former walls demolished in the 19C. In the middle, the Forum Stadtpark welcomes young avant-garde artists. The great fountain in..

Our Lady of Succour was a popular pilgrimage church for many centuries. Its well-proportioned Baroque façade, simple elegant twin towers and Renaissance nave make it one of Graz's finest religious buildings. The cloister's second courtyard has a fo..

Dominating the town, this 123m-high hill topped by fortifications was until the Napoeonic period an impregnable fortress. When in 1809 Graz was occupied by the French, the Schlossberg resisted all attempts to take it. The treaty of Schönbrunn (14 Oct..

The original Gothic Church of the Holy Blood , was remodelled in the Baroque style, then re-Gothicized at the end of the 19C. However, its wooden bell tower remained Baroque and is undoubtedly the most elegant in town. Inside, note the Assumption o..

This is Styria's main Fine Arts Museum. The ground-floor Medieval Art section is particularly interesting, with stained-glass windows, sculptures and altarpieces, such as the Mariazell , from 12C to 16C Austrian masters. The second floor displays ..

The Herrengasse is a lively avenue lined with elegant shops and office buildings. At n° 3, visitors can enjoy deciphering the paintings on the façade of the Gemalte Haus , residence of the dukes of Styria before 1450. The frescoes, from 1742, depict..

Note the big house topped by a bell-turret when arriving at this square. Its carillon plays old popular tunes and two machine figures appear from the pediment twirling and dancing in local dress several times a day.

In the centre of Liberty Square stands the statue of the last Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, elder brother of the popular Archduke Johann whose statue stands in the Old Town's main square. The big red building closing the square has low reliefs of fr..

The Church of the Franciscans forms a charming picture with old stalls set up against its walls. The famous Mendicant brothers founded their monastery here in 1240. In the 16C, after the break-up of the order, it belonged to the Franciscan Minorites...

The winding and colourful Sporgasse (Spur Road) is alive with shops and lined with fine old houses including, at n° 25, the Palais Saurau Göss whose Baroque doorway leads into a pretty Renaissance arcaded courtyard. At n° 22, the courtyard of the f..

Opposite the Town Museum, this is undoubtedly the city's finest Baroque palace. Note the profuse decoration of its façades in detail, with pilasters, mouldings, curvilinear window pediments and fire pots. It was built by Count von Attems, from 1702..

This former cul-de-sac was once known as "Lords Close" (Herrensack) as early as 1650, because of the mansions that are still standing today including, at n° 12, the Krebsenkeller whose Renaissance arcaded courtyard has a secret and very I..