Hohensalzburg Fortress

The Formidable Fortress

Salzburg Aug 10th 2008

The fortress in Salzburg was built in 1077 on part of the Monchberg Mountain, high above the city and is the only Fortress in Europe never conquered by it's enemies. It is also one of the largest and best preserved midevil castles in all of Europe. You can't get to it with its steep cliff sides and the many castle walls that were built around it. In fact as you take a tour of the fortress you see about 10 mini models of the castle as it was improved by the 17 Arch Bishops who ruled over the area each making it a bit more secure.

Here is a view of the castle from a distant edge of the Monchberg Mountain. Directly behind Jeff'sright arm is the rock cliff that St.Peters cemetery is built up against from the pictures in an earlier post. You can see most of the old town of Salzburg here. It is a beautiful city. The views from the fortress were pretty amazing too!

This is just outside the walls of the fortress but on top of the mountain looking out toward where Jeff was standing in the first picture above. Next are a few pictures from inside the castle. They are actually pictures from the kings quarters.

Next up is the elaborate ceramic heater. They had discovered that the ceramic conducted the heat very well and required much less work as you could continue heating a room long after a fire went out because of how hot the ceramic would get.

I'm sorry I couldn't leave this one alone. Every castle needs a throne. This one just empties out right onto the hillside.