Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Universitätsplatz
This square hosts an
open-air produce market
—Salzburg's liveliest, though it's pricey
(mornings Mon-Sat, best on Sat). The market really bustles on Saturday mornings, when the
farmers are in town.
Publicmarketplaceshavefountainsforwashingfruitandvegetables.Bearleftaroundthe
church and you'll find the one here—a part of the medieval water system. The sundial (over
the fountain's drain) is accurate (except for the daylight savings hour) and two-dimensional,
showing both the time (obvious) and the date (less obvious). The fanciest facade overlook-
ing the square (the yellow one) is the backside of Mozart's Birthplace (we'll see the front
soon).
• Continue past the fountain to the far end of the square. Most of the houses on your right
havenicelyarcadedmedievalpassagesthatconnectthesquaretoGetreidegasse,whichruns
paralleltoUniversitätsplatz. Justforfun,youcouldweavebetweenthisstreetandGetreide-
gasseseveraltimes,followingthese“throughhouses”asyouworkyourwaytowardthecliff
face ahead.
Mönchsberg Cliff Face
Look up—200 feet above you is the Mönchsberg, Salzburg's mountain. Today you see the
remains of an aborted attempt in the 1600s to cut through the Mönchsberg. It proved too big
a job, and when new tunneling technology arrived, the project was abandoned. The stones
cut did serve as a quarry for the city's 17th-century growth spurt—the bulk of the cathedral,
for example, is built of this economic and local conglomerate stone.
Earlyonemorningin1669,ahugelandslidekilledmorethan200townspeoplewholived
close to where the elevator is now (to the right). Since then the cliffs have been carefully
checked each spring and fall. Even today, you might see crews on the cliff, monitoring its
stability.
Across the busy road are giant horse troughs. Cross the street (looking left at the string
of Salzburg Festival halls again) for a closer look. Paintings show the various breeds and
temperaments of horses in the prince's stable. Like Vienna, Salzburg had a passion for the
equestrian arts.
• Turn right (passing a courtyard on your left that once housed a hospital for the poor,
and now houses a toy museum and a museum of historic musical instruments), and then
right again, which brings you to the start of a long and colorful pedestrian street. (At
this point you could take a short side-trip up the mountain via the elevator—Mönchsberg
Aufzug—described on
here
.)
