Belvedere Schloss: Vienna’s Crowning Jewel
If by any chance, you happen to find yourself in the city of Vienna, one of the most breathtakingly picturesque and beautiful cities in Europe, you just have to travel to the city’s southeast edge and find the astonishing Baroque complex of Belvedere.
Originally built as the summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy, the complex, made up of gardens, Upper and Lower Belvederes, a Winter Palace, an orangery and a grand Horse stable, was later acquired by Maria Theresa, one of the most prominent leaders of the then mighty Austro-Hungarian Habsburg empire.
The prince commissioned Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt to build the palaces, which are considered to be among the best Baroque-style architecture in the world.
Today, the structure houses a grand museum and photo gallery/exhibit featuring some famous works of art including works of renowned painter Gustav Klimt.
The Belvedere houses the biggest collection of Klimt paintings in the world. Klimt’s ‘Kiss” and “Judith” are housed here.
The Upper Belvedere, in particular attracts millions of visitors because of beauty and charm.
The Baroque architecture of the structure, along with the ornate sphinxes that adorn the front gardens are great throwbacks to the Vienna of the olden times, the 17th to 18th century in fact, when the complex was commissioned and completed.
The expansive moat and the the wrought iron gates add appeal to the already gorgeous structure.
Over the course of history, the Upper Belvedere has been used for official representative purposes while the Lower Belvedere was used as a residential place and a depository of important works of art.
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