Belvedere

Belvedere Castle

Forget Hofburg and Schönbrunn

Description

The Belvedere comprises two magnificent baroque mansions facing each other across a sloping formal garden. Prince Eugène of Savoy, whose campaigns against the Turks enabled the Habsburg Empire to reclaim Hungary, purchased some land beyond the city walls in 1693, upon which he ordered a park with elaborate water features and fountains to be built. In 1714, the Prince had Lukas von Hildebrandt build the Lower Belvedere for his personal use with its beautiful Marmorsaal (marble hall), the Prunkgalerie and the marvelous Spiegelsaal (mirror hall). In 1721, Hildebrandt started with the construction of the Upper Belvedere, purposely built for the prince's lavish masked balls, receptions and firework displays. The Audienzsaal (reception room), Spiegelkabinett (mirror cabinet), Kunstgalerie (arts gallery), Konferenzsaal (conference hall) and Kaffeezimmer (coffee room) can all be visited today. The complex of the Upper Belvedere now houses one of Austria's most popular galleries (Galerie im Oberen Belvedere) with a huge collection of paintings by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.