A Salzburg Monday

Aldstadt

Businesses and University Church

Fortress and Salzburger Dom (Cathedral)

What a City!

We're across the river from the Altstadt, the old City of Salzburg, and the room has a view of the river, the University Church from about 1620, the Salzburger Dom Cathedral last rebuilt in 1959 after being built in the 1640's, but there's been a church there since the 700s or so, and the big fortress overlooking the city of Salzburg, built by an Archbishop starting in the 1100's or so. Apparently in order to make supplying the fortress easier the Archbishop built a funicular type railway to the top which still operates today, making it the oldest functioning railway in the world.

I've sure picked up a lot about construction and styles of Cathedrals in the last years, apparently older Cathedrals were very dark places, because the techniques needed to build walls that were not solid had not been invented yet, things like flying buttresses to distribute the weight of the roof over a larger ground area. St. Peter's in Rome is a fairly modern old church but its still pretty dark, a church like the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is really old and really dark. The Salzburg Cathedral is one of the first be built in the Baroque style and its pretty bright.

And the Altstadt is a sweet little street full of little shops!

Enjoy, more later, including the story of Mozart Kuglen, or Mozart Balls, or Mozart's Balls!