More Salzburg — Cemeteries, the Cathedral and the Fortress

The Cemetery behind St. Peter’s Church
Anna Maria Mozart (only living sibling of Mozart) and family members are buried here. These cemeteries are really amazing. This one had the most unusual headstones–not of stone, but of ornate iron. It was still frosty and mystical. There was a funeral in the church just before we got there and a burial site was prepared to receive the casket. This cemetery was one of my favorite places visited today.

Mozart’s sister’s and Joseph Haydns’ brother’s memorial:

These are the catacombs by the cemetery at the base of the mountain with the fortress on top:

St Peter’s Church, dating back to 1491.

Water wheel by the Abbey bakery

It was working, turning the water right next to the oldest bakery in Salzburg. Maybe we’ll go back when it’s open.

Salzburg Cathedral (5 Euro) with Mozart’s baptismal font

Salzburg Cathedral is the seventeenth-century Baroque cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Salzburg in the city of Salzburg, Austria, dedicated to Saint Rupert and Saint Vergilius. Saint Rupert founded the church in 774 on the remnants of a Roman town, and the cathedral was rebuilt in 1181 after a fire.

This uniquely-designed cathedral was constructed in the early 17th century and was the site of Mozart’s baptism in 1756.

It is huge and grand.

This is the font (from 1321) where Mozart was baptized in 1756:

Mozart’s music on a music stand:

A walk through a Christmas Market:

Next we took the Bahn/tram (14.50 Euro each) to the Fortress up on the mountain top.

The Hohensalzburg

Hohensalzburg Fortress is a large medieval fortress on top of the Festungsberg mountain (506 meters up). It was erected at the for the prince-archbishops of Salzburg. The fortress is 250 m long and 150 m wide making it one of the largest fully-preserved medieval castles in Europe. It gives a 360-degree view of the city and its surroundings.

Views from on top:

John breaking out some chocolate!

The History of Hohensalzburg Fortress
Archbishop Gebhard built the Hohensalzburg Fortress in 1077. In the years after that, his successors continued developing the architecture of the fortress. Around 1500, under Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach, the fortress took on its present appearance. The original purpose of the fortress was to protect the principality and the archbishops from enemy attack. In all these years the fortress has never been taken by foreign troops.

Below is the view toward Berchtesgaden and The Eagle’s Nest high on the mountain top.

This is Leopoldkron Palace (the site of the Von Trapp family home in The Sound of Music).

I found the ancient rain gutters interesting:

There was a display about puppetry in one of the castle rooms.

One door for a horse, another for a man.

The castle chapel (1502):

The Castle’s Christmas Market had closed for the day.

The Christmas trees in the market area were decorated by different school classes. I loved the ornaments made by the kids!

This room was the armory and is now a nice gift shop.

We didn’t ride the tram back down, instead we walked back down the mountain another way.

I could not get enough of these beautiful sunset views! Every minute the light changed a bit as we came down the side of the mountain.

Our next visit was perhaps the my favorite of the day–the nunnery where the nuns sing vespers–in the very place represented in The Sound of Music movie.