TOUR VIENNA E BRATISLAVA

 Vienna

Grandiose, opulent, imperial but also modern, avant-garde, creative. Vienna is a city with multiple personalities. Home of Princess Sissi, with the historic castle of Schönbrunn, the Cathedral of St. Stephen and the Capuchin Crypt, but also a trendy, creative and party destination. A city that never ceases to amaze, where it is easy to find monumental buildings and historic buildings next to glass towers and lopsided buildings. Impregnated with classical and culturally brilliant music (the MuseumsQuartier is one of the ten largest museum complexes in the world) has at the same time a lively nightlife (with more than 5,000 rooms) and 280 parks and imperial gardens. In continuous evolution between tradition and modernity also the "tasty Vienna": wine, trendy restaurants, typical dishes and gastronomic experiments make the Austrian capital a continuous surprise. It is not surprising, then, that an international search of 2010 placed it in the first place among the cities with the highest quality of life in the world.

Schonbrunn Castle

At the end of the seventeenth century the emperor Leopold I commissioned to the baroque architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, formed in Rome, the construction of an imperial hunting castle for the heir to the throne, the future emperor Joseph I. In place of the residence of countryside built in 1642 for the empress Eleonora di Gonzaga, widow of the emperor, in the course of the eighteenth century a grandiose representative building would rise. During the reign of Maria Teresa in the mid-eighteenth century, the castle of Schönbrun, the imperial summer residence, became the sumptuous stage of the court. Since that time the building has hosted the greatest European statesmen, and even with the advent of the Republic Schönbrunn remained the scene of political meetings at the highest levels. The visit of the noble floor of the Schönbrunn Palace begins today at the Scalone light blue. The route of the Imperial Apartments and the grand rooms of representation includes the nineteenth-century apartments in which lived the emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elizabeth, in the west wing of the building that leads to Hietzing, the halls of representation in the central section , the imperial apartments of Maria Teresa and Francesco Stefano I and the apartment called Francesco Carlo, in which the parents of Francesco Giuseppe, Archduchess Sophia and Archduke Francesco Carlo lived.

Belvedere Castle

Belvedere Castle (Belvedere Castle) is an architectural complex built as a summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy, formed by two palaces, joined together by a huge French-style garden, which currently houses the collections of the Belvedere Museum. the highest point of the garden is the Upper Belvedere (Oberes Belvedere), the main building of the Castle, with a really sophisticated façade. The interior is disappointing, as it does not look like a palace. In fact, only the Salone di Marmola, the chapel and the hall are decorated. The other rooms do not show a sumptuous decorative apparatus, but welcome the collections of the Belvedere Museum, from the Middle Ages to our days. On the ground floor there is the chapel and, moreover, the exhibition spaces are covered with works produced by the Middle Ages to the Baroque. On the first floor there are works by Viennese artists, made between 1880 and 1900. On the second floor are the works of Neoclassicism and Romanticism, as well as the Biedermeier collection. In the exhibition path of the Upper Belvedere you can contemplate the works of famous artists such as Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Max Beckman, Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka. Among the museum's masterpieces, there is "The Kiss", the most famous work of the Austrian Gustav Klimt. Smaller and with a less impressive façade, compared to that of the Upper Belvedere, the Lower Belvedere building (Unteres Belvedere) exhibits the works of the Austrian Baroque, with works by artists who shaped the city during the Golden Age of Vienna. Some of the most important rooms of the palace are the Sala dei Grotteschi, the Marble Gallery and the Hall of Mirrors, all in Baroque style. Near the Lower Belvedere there is the elegant building, used in the past as a greenhouse. Currently, here are the time exhibits of the Belvedere Museum. Contrary to the Hofburg Palace and Schönbrunn Palace, the Belvedere Castle does not deserve too much for its decorative apparatus. For those not interested in art, it is advisable to observe the Belvedere Palace from the outside and take a walk in its gardens. On the contrary, art lovers will not be able to stay in the exhibition spaces of the Castle, to closely observe the legendary "kiss" by Gustav Klimt and the masterpieces of Schiele and Kokoschka.

Bratislava

Bratislava, the capital and economic and cultural center of Slovakia, is a marvelous medieval city that lies along the Danube. In the historic center are important monuments and palaces, such as the Bratislava Castle, symbol of the city, wonderful squares rich in historic cafés once frequented by great European musicians such as Mozart and Beethoven, and important museums. The historic center is very small, crossed by pedestrian streets overlooked by multicolored buildings in soft pastel shades and the charm of the city is timeless. Bratislava is crossed by the Danube and in the evening the city lights create an exciting spectacle together with the gentle flicker of the river's waters.

Bratislava Castle

From time immemorial, the imposing castle, with its four corner towers (which gave it the nickname of "overturned table"), dominates Bratislava and outlines its profile from a 74-meter hill on the Danube. Its dominant position offers a beautiful view over the red roofs of the Old Town and the Novỳ Most, the "bold" bridge that connects the two banks of the river. In particular, from the Tower of the Crown (Korunnà veza) the view extends as far as Petržalka, the district built in the Communist era, which extends as far as the eye can see beyond the river, with its sad and anonymous buildings, being able to catch a glimpse on the clearest days, even Austria. Waiting for you, the equestrian statue of Svatopluk I, sovereign of Moravia of the ninth century. The castle of Bratislava is the symbol of the Slovak capital and in 1961, it was recognized as a national historical monument. Its image is reproduced in the Slovak coins of 10, 20 and 50 euro cents.