More museums, more palaces, more churches and even a crypt. Explore more of Vienna!
Much of Vienna, Austria, is fairly spread out. In Part 1, I covered parts of my first and second days in Vienne where I stayed mostly in the center of the city. Now in Part 2, I will cover the rest of the first day and most of the rest of the second day, starting out on the edge of the city center at another palace complex, the Upper and Lower Belvedere.
Sunday afternoon I decided to head to the Lower Belvedere first, but I went the wrong way, but a different palace turned casino blocked that idea. Apparently, there are multiple palaces with two walled gardens right next to each other. They don’t interconnect. The first break in the garden wall was at the Upper Belvedere, so I started there.
Jana Irving Another giant palace that served as Prince Eugene’s summer palace.
Jana Irving The rear of the palace is just as wonderful.
Prince Eugene (1663-1736) had spent much of his younger life in the court at Versailles, so he picked up some design tips while he was there. Construction on the Upper Belvedere was finished in 1723. The Lower Belvedere was completed a few years before. It is much smaller and attached to the old stables. A large garden spans the space between the palaces.
Jana Irving The Lower Belvedere is down that way. Which is also next to another palace, turned casino.
Jana Irving The main staircase of the Upper Belvedere.
Jana Irving At the top is the stunning Marble Hall.
Jana Irving It was stunning and really hard to get into one photo.
Jana Irving The rest of the museum was a bit less elaborate. Unfortunately, much of the original decoration was lost during WWII.
Jana Irving A surprising amount of color for the middle of winter.
Jana Irving Quiet a large garden.
Jana Irving The Lower Belvedere is used as an art museum as well. You can get a combo ticket for both museums.
Jana Irving A bit more of the fantastic elaborate original decorations survive in this palace.
Jana Irving A very shiny room.
Jana Irving Continuing on, monument honoring the Soviet soldiers that liberated Vienna from Nazi occupation.
Jana Irving Fancy building.
Jana Irving Lovely little Annakirche.
Now for the rest of my second day in Vienna. I already covered a couple of places I visited on day 2 in the last post. Here’s the rest of it. It was still cold, just a bit cloudier in the morning, which made it colder.
Jana Irving The massive Vienna Opera House, another place I didn’t have time for.
Jana Irving After visiting St. Peter, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Sisi Museum and Imperial Palace (at the Hofburg and no photos for those museums), I ended up outside freezing in a park, the Volksgarten.
Jana Irving Which has a random fake Roman temple, the Theseus Temple. Apparently, there were art exhibits in there at some point.
Jana Irving Another grand theater, the Burgtheater.
Jana Irving The Rathaus (town hall) and a giant skating rink. There were at least a couple of oval rinks connected by skating paths through the park.
Jana Irving The Hofburg again, along with a very unpicturesque parking lot.
Jana Irving Stupid cars.
Jana Irving The Leopoldine Wing, another Hofburg wing. The Federal President of Austria has offices there.
Jana Irving Joseph Square, another wing of the Hofburg. This one holding the National Library.
Jana Irving The entrance of the Augustinian Church was hidden in the facade. Napoleon married Archduchess Maria Ludovika of Austria (wife number two) by proxy in this church. Yep, he wasn’t even at his wedding. A very common practice in the past.
Jana Irving That’s quite a tomb.
Jana Irving It looks like they took out the original windows on the right and put in palace windows. I guess that’s a way to avoid common folk.
Last stop in this post is the Kapuzinergruft (Capuchin’s Crypt). Since 1663, Hapsburg royals have been entombed here in the Imperial Crypt. It’s still used.
Jana Irving Unnamed royals. Well at least not named in the brochure.
Jana Irving Everyone is entombed in these fancy metal sarcophagi. Some are fancier than others.
Jana Irving Kaiser Joseph I’s was much larger and fancier.
Jana Irving Complete with skull with a laurel wreath.
Jana Irving That skull has a crown. Tomb of Kaiser Karl VI.
Jana Irving Tomb of Maria Theresa and her husband Franz I Stephan. It’s a lot. Also, the biggest one in the crypt.
Jana Irving Kaiser Franz II surrounded by the tombs of his four wives. I assume they all died naturally.
They did some renovating in the 1960s and expanded the vault. In the new section, lies Maximilian of Mexico (1832-1867), an Austrian Hapsburg who was far down the line of succession. Long story short, he was born outside of Vienna, was involved in the military, was “elected” the emperor of Mexico, went to Mexico (in that order), and the locals got mad and executed him three years later. At least his body made it back to Austria.
Jana Irving A simple tomb for Maximilian of Mexico.
Jana Irving Tombs of Franz Joseph I (center), the much beloved Sisi (Elisabeth) on the left and their only son, Crown Prince Rudolph.
Sisi was assassinated in Geneva and Rudolph had some mental health issues and ended his life along with his mistress’s. Franz Joseph would rule until 1916, passing away during WWI. Because his son died early, Franz Joseph had his nephew instead as his successor. His nephew being Franz Ferdinand. No luck in this family.
I really enjoyed the Kapuzinergruft a lot more than I thought I would. It really shouldn’t be surprising considering how much I love cemeteries. The Upper and Lower Belvedere are small but have quite nice collections. You can get a combo ticket for both museums.
Still not done with Vienna yet!
Check out my next post where I rap up my visit to Vienna!
or
Start at the beginning of this adventure in Zurich!
