This was a nice district to explore as it is the district we live in. So
we kind of lucked out that we didn't have to travel to the ends of
the ubahn lines to get to the far out districts! But the interesting
thing about the various districts of Vienna is over time they have
changed, however since the end of the Second World War for the most part they
have stayed constant. After the end of WWII the city of Vienna was divided
among the allied forces, similar to what happened in Berlin, Germany. The 4th
district, Wieden, came under the control of the Soviet Union during this
occupational time, and even today it is still very evident. Our district is
full of communist style architecture and communal housing.
Within the 4th district there is the Belvedere Palace, the site that we decided
to choose for the exploration as it was the most appealing.
The Palace is amazingly well kept, and the grounds and gardens are beautiful.
The palace grounds span almost the entire length of the district and are a
popular spot for tourists and site-seers. As the warmer weather approaches the
palace gardens will start to bloom and new flowers will be planted making the
site even more gorgeous and appealing than it is now. The palace gardens and
grounds are home to multiple fountains, a large central tiered waterfall,
and various statues giving it a majestic and imperial feel when strolling
through. This only adds to the actual architecture of the palace itself, styled
in the Baroque style. The palace has two parts, the upper and lower palace,
both beautifully laden with baroque styling and intricacies. Overall it is a
beautiful palace to see in Vienna, and next to the Shonbrunn, it is one of the
best in the city.
We were unable to actually take a tour of the palace itself and learn about the
history behind it but I am sure we will make it there and do the actual tour
sometime soon.
Cool, the Palaces sound awesome. Its a shame that you guys were unable to go into the Palaces, but I think we will all being going on a comprehensive tour of the Belvedere with Dr. Forest-Battaglia and your post has made us excited for that. What you both mentioned about about the beauty and intricacies of the grounds was not exaggerated. Both Hiram and I visited the Belvedere grounds after this post and consider ourselves lucky for living so close to the palace. The overall peaceful atmosphere of the palace influenced us to sit down and have a relaxing lunch on one of the benches, not forgetting to admire the well manicured lawn/flower beds. We share James' and Julia's hopes in being able to soak in the interior beauty of the palace.
ReplyDelete- Hiram & Brenden