Belvedere Palace

Belvedere Palace

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Area：Belvedere Sightseeing　Genre： Sights Museums

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Sights Museums

Spectacular building and grounds in vienna

The Belvedere is a historic building complex in Vienna, Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the third district of the city, on the south-eastern edge of its centre. It houses the Belvedere museum. The grounds are set on a gentle gradient and include decorative tiered fountains and cascades, Baroque sculptures, and majestic wrought iron gates. The Baroque palace complex was built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy.

The Belvedere was built during a period of extensive construction in Vienna, which at the time was both the imperial capital and home to the ruling Habsburg dynasty. This period of prosperity followed on from the commander-in-chief Prince Eugene of Savoy's successful conclusion of a series of wars against the Ottoman Empire.

Upper Belvedere

The building was completed in 1723. The Sala Terrena, however, was at risk of collapsing due to structural problems, and in the winter of 1732–33 Hildebrandt was forced to install a vaulted ceiling supported by four Atlas pillars, giving the room its current appearance. Salomon Kleiner, an engineer from the Mainz elector's court, produced a ten-part publication between 1731 and 1740 containing a total of ninety plates, entitled Wunder würdiges Kriegs- und Siegs-Lager deß Unvergleichlichen Heldens Unserer Zeiten Eugenii Francisci Hertzogen zu Savoyen und Piemont, which documented in precise detail the state of the Belvedere complex.

Lower Belvedere

Many of the rooms are open to visitors to the Barockmuseum, which has a collection of Baroque paintings and sculpture. You can visit rooms such as the Dining Room, the Mirror Hall and the Bedroom. A highlight is the Marmorsaal or Marble Hall which is magnificently decorated with stucco reliefs and statues. The ceiling fresco, painted by Martino Altomonte in 1716, shows Prince Eugène as Apollo. Another interesting room is the Groteskensaal (Hall of Grotesques), decorated with wall murals of grotesques, painted by the German artist Jonas Drentwett in a style similar to those found in ancient Roman houses. Also interesting in this room are the bizarre sculpted heads with extreme facial expressions. Not to be missed is the Golden Cabinet, a small but richly decorated room.

Gardens

The garden had a scenery enclosed by clipped hedging, even as the Belvedere was building, in the formal French manner with gravelled walks and jeux d'eau by Dominique Girard, who had trained in the gardens of Versailles as a pupil of André Le Nôtre. Its great water basin in the upper parterre and the stairs and cascades peopled by nymphs and goddesses that links upper and lower parterres survive, but the patterned bedding has long been grassed over; it is currently being restored.

General Information

名称	BELVEDERE PALACE
住所	PRINZ EUGEN STRASSE 27, 1030 VIENNA, AUSTRIA
電話番号	(01)795570
ＨＰ	http://www.belvedere.at
営業時間	Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00
休業日	Mondays, 12/24, 12/25
入場料	Adults:11.00€-, :無料、Children and Teenager (0-18 years):Free
アクセス	1 minute walk from SCHLOSSBELVEDERE station