Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
moved to this more spacious abode in 1773, where a prolific Mozart composed works
such as the
Shepherd King
(K208) and
Idomeneo
(K366). Emanuel Schikaneder, a close
friend of Mozart and the librettist of
The Magic Flute,
was a regular guest here. An audi-
oguide accompanies your visit, serenading you with opera excerpts. Alongside family
portraits and documents, you'll find Mozart's original fortepiano.
Under the same roof and included in your ticket is the
Mozart-Ton- und Filmsammlung
, a
film and music archive of interest to the ultra-enthusiast, with some 25,000 audiovisual
recordings.
SQUARE
Residenzplatz
With its horse-drawn carriages, palace and street entertainers, this stately baroque square
is the Salzburg of a thousand postcards. Its centrepiece is the
Residenzbrunnen
, an enormous
marble fountain ringed by four water-spouting horses and topped by a conch-shell-bear-
ing Triton. The plaza is the late-16th-century vision of Prince-Archbishop Wolf Dietrich
von Raitenau who, inspired by Rome, enlisted Italian architect Vincenzo Scamozzi.
Stiftskirche St Peter
CHURCH
(St Peter's Abbey Church; St Peter Bezirk 1-2; catacombs adult/child €1.50/1; church 8.30am-noon &
2.30-6.30pm, cemetery 6.30am-7pm, catacombs 10.30am-5pm Tue-Sun)
A Frankish missionary named Ru-
pert founded this abbey church and monastery around 700, making it the oldest in the
German- speaking world. Though a vaulted Romanesque portal remains, today's church
is overwhelmingly baroque, with rococo stucco, statues - including one of archangel Mi-
chael shoving a crucifix through the throat of a goaty demon - and striking altar paintings
by Martin Johann Schmidt.
Take a stroll around the
cemetery
, where the graves are mini works of art with their in-
tricate stonework and filigree wrought-iron crosses. Composer Michael Haydn
(1737-1806), opera singer Richard Mayr (1877-1935) and renowned Salzburg confec-
tioner Paul Fürst (1856-1941) lie buried here; the last is watched over by skull- bearing
cherubs.
The cemetery is home to the
catacombs
, cavelike chapels and crypts hewn out of the
Mönchsberg cliff face.
PALACE
Schloss Mirabell