Salzburg - Hohensalzburg Fortress

(Local Name: Festung) Salzburg's whole urban scene is dominated by the picturesque fortress of Hohensalzburg, situated to the south of the old town on the southeastern summit of the Mönchsberg (542m/1,778ft), 120m/400ft above the Salzach. It can be reached on foot (20 minutes) either from Kapitelplatz by way of Festungsgasse or from the Mönchsberg via the Schartentor, or by funicular from Festungsgasse (about one-and-a-half minutes). The castle, first built in 1077 in the reign of Archbishop Gebhard, dates in its present form mainly from about 1500, during the reign of Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach, whose heraldic device, a turnip, is everywhere to be seen. The castle was strongly fortified in the 17th C., but was abandoned in 1861. From the Festungsgasse the approach to the fortress passes through a number of arched defensive gateways under the Feuerbastei (Fire Bastion, 1681; marble coat of arms of its builder, Archbishop Count Kuenburg) to the "Reisszug", a hoist (1504) for bringing up supplies, formerly worked by horses, and then through the Rosspforte (Horse Gate) into the Haupthof (outer ward), with an ancient lime tree and a cistern of 1539. On the northern side of the courtyard is the little Georgskirche (church of St George, 1501-02), on the outer wall of which is a fine red marble relief of Archbishop Leonhard (by Hans Volkenauer, 1515). The conducted tour which begins at the Gerichtsturm or Reckturm takes in, among other features, the "Salzburg Bull" (Salzburger Stier), an organ of 1502 which is played daily after the carillon in the Neugebäude, and, on the third floor, the Princes' Apartments (Late Gothic; painted wainscoting). In the Golden Room ("Goldene Stube") note the marble doorways, the doors covered in tendrils formed from wrought iron, and a beautiful tiled stove of 1501. In the Great or Golden Hall (with gold bosses on the blue coffered ceiling) there are four columns with shafts of red Adnet marble.