|
Immediately west of the Rupertinum, Fischer von Erlach's sizeable Kollegienkirche dominates the Universitatsplatz , an elongated square peppered with stalls selling local sausages and cheese. Squeezed between two chunky towers is the church's most idiosyncratic feature, a bowed facade which juts forth like a huge bay window. Anton Pfaffinger's high altar of 1740, with classical columns presenting a rather too literal allegory of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, seems lost within Ehrlach's hangar-sized interior. Behind the church, Hofstallgasse is dominated by the rather utilitarian facade of the 1930s Festspielhaus , built to provide the Salzburg Festival with a central concert venue. Guided tours daily: July-Aug at 9.30am, 2pm & 3.30pm; June & Sept at 2pm & 3.30pm; Oct-May at 2pm; oS70/?5.09) provide access to the two concert halls inside, as well as the courtyard in which outdoor performances are held - a curious quadrangle of rock-hewn niches which once served as the archiepiscopal riding school's stables. Beside the Festspielhaus, a staircase leads up onto the Monchsberg hill. The less energetic can take the nearby Monchsberg lift (Monchsbergaufzug; daily 9am-11pm; oS27/?1.96 return). Northeast of the Festspielhaus, but still in the shadow of the Monchsberg, is the Pferdschwemme , a horse-trough built in 1700 for the archbishop's riding school and embellished with a range of equine motifs. Murals of a range of different breeds form the backdrop to the fountain, which centres on a statue of a loincloth-clad youth grappling with an unruly horse - a clear reference to the story of Alexander the Great taming the wild horse Bucephalus. A couple of hundred metres down Burgerspitalgasse, the Burgerspital is a sixteenth-century almshouse now containing the Spielzeugsmuseum ("Toy Museum"; Tues-Sun 9am-5pm; oS30/?2.18), an unassuming and largely unlabelled collection of model railways, dolls houses, puppets and other playthings. It's a colourful display with enough to keep nostalgic adults amused, but there's little in the way of hands-on fun for younger kids.
Your Tip for Universitatsplatz
Help other backpackers! Write your own guides and backpacking tips to Universitatsplatz - they will appear instantly on this page - Please only write a tip/guide to Universitatsplatz - visit the main Universitatsplatz forum to ask a question!
Please do not post links to your site here (they won't work) - please use the Universitatsplatz webguide section below! Thanks.
|
