Graz - Castle and Cathedral District

To the south of the Graz Cathedral stands the sumptuous Baroque Mausoleum of the Emperor Ferdinand II (died 1637), partly designed by J. B. Fischer von Erlach. It consists of the domed St Catherine's Chapel and a burial vault to its south. In the center of the vault stands a marble sarcophagus in which Maria of Bavaria, the Emperor's mother, is interred. The grave of Ferdinand II lies to the left of the altar under two marble slabs; on his right lies his first wife.

The Burg (castle) northeast of the Graz Hauptplatz, originally a massive 15th C. Imperial stronghold but much altered in later centuries, now preserves only a few remains of the original structure. Notable features are the grand courtyard with a double spiral staircase of 1499, and a smaller courtyard with portrait busts of eminent Styrians (the "Styrian Gallery of Honor").

Northeast of the Graz Burg you will find the Karmeliterplatz, a charming square laid out after 1578 as the central feature of an extension to the town, and named after the former Carmelite convent which was secularized in 1784 and now houses the police headquarters. On the eastern side of the square stands a memorial to those who fell in the Second World War, and on the southern side the Palais Galler (c. 1690), with a Trinity Column (1680) in front of it.