With the familiar «Steffl», its elegant spire soaring to the skies at a height of 137m, St Stephen's Cathedral, with its varnished roofs and mass of carved stonework, is the monument that is most symbolic of the city of Vienna. Often damaged by war b..

A former imperial palace, the majestic Hofburg was the Habsburg winter residence until 1918. An extraordinary range of buildings and historic collections, it has been added to down the centuries with each period leaving its mark; pomp, charm and extr..

A treasury is recorded here in the 14C. In 1747, Maria Teresa located it in this part of the palace, where it subsequently grew to acommodate an increasing collection. The imperial treasure includes mementoes, sacred and personal Habsburg relics. T..

The Habsburg passion for art is legendary. Over the centuries they built a collection which, thanks to their knowledge and taste, is without equal in terms of both variety and quality. The five departments range from Eastern, Greek and Roman antiqui..

Originally a hunting lodge, Schönbrunn became Maria Theresa's sumptuous summer residence with aspirations to rival Versailles. The Empress commissioned Nikolaus Pacassi to finish it in a near- Classical Baroque style, inspired by French taste. The ..

The small Stephansplatz or St Stephen's Square forms a contrast with the proportions of the cathedral whose arches are now reflected in the glass walls of the modern Haas-Haus . The two main pedestrian thoroughfares of the old town converge in the..

Glancing at the discreet façade of the Kapuzinerkirche , the Church of the Capuchins on Neuer Markt, you would not think that the embalmed bodies of 138 members of the Imperial family of the Habsburgs are buried here, including 12 emperors and 17 em..

Founded in the latter part of the 16C, this is one of the world’s most famous equestrian establishments. It displays its prowess in the winter riding school (1753), surrounded by two storeys of galleries overlooking the ring in which the Lippizzaners..

With over 1 million engravings and 60 000 drawings and watercolours, the Albertina Graphic Arts Collection is undoubtedly one of the largest in the world. Housed in the former Tarouca family palace since 1795, it owes its name to its founder, Duke ..

This rich collection of arms and armour was begun in the early 15C by the Archdukes Ernest of Styria (1377-1424) and Ferdinand of Tyrol (1527-1595), and capped by the inclusion of the Imperial Court’s arms in 1806. The ingenious filigree decoration o..

Since 1895, teams of Austrian archeologists have been excavating the site of Ephesos in Asia Minor, one of the most important ancient cities. Their finds are impressive. The Parthian monument frieze and the Ephesian Athlete , are the two major wor..

The MAK or Museum of Applied and Decorative Arts , occupies a building along the Ring. The pre-eminence of its collections reflects Vienna's passion for decorative arts and modern design. The arrangement of certain of its displays has been enturuste..

Leaving the narrow streets of the Old town, the appearance of Vienna changes radically as you reach the Ring , the ring of boulevards around the city. The city's old fortifications became the site of the most extensive urban development programme ev..

Already virtually complete in the 16C, this collection in the imperial palace accords antique musical instruments the status of artworks, giving them a unique historical context. Among the rarest pieces are a rebec (Venice, 15C), a harpsichord (V..

The neo-Renaissance façade of the Academy of Fine Arts stands slightly back from the ring on the Schillerplatz . This little-known museum, with its succession of unattractive rooms, contains some veritable masterpieces. The Renaissance period is p..

When the Secession Pavilion was built by Josef Maria Olbrich in 1898, it represented a brutal intrusion of avant-garde into the blue sky of triumphant historicism. This enormous white cube with a dome composed of 3,000 golden laurel leaves was perc..

Inaugurated in 1869, the fine Renaissance façade of the Staatsoper (State Opera House) proudly overlooks the Ring. Of worldwide renown, the greatest conductors and international stars, past and present, have or will pass through its portals. It is ..

The strange juxtaposition of the façade of St Charles Borromeo may seem disconcerting. Apparently the architect, J.B. Fischer von Erlach , had the idea for the church on top of the Pincian hill, in Rome, when looking down on Trajan's column, the p..

The prestigious Wieden district lies south of the Innere Stadt (inner part of the city) with St Charles Square between the two districts, not far from the Ring. This is a main junction for the city's underground and tramway lines. It is not only a ..

Preceded by fine gardens, ths Italian-inspired Baroque building houses the fine private collection of Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, comprising some 1 600 works from the Renaissance to Austrian Romanticism, including Lorenzo Monaco’s Madonna ..