Schloss Ambras, Innsbruck

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This fabuolous castle is located in the hill above Innsbruck, and it's one of the most important sights of Innsbruck.

The story goes back at the time of Archduke Ferdinand II, in 1563, he ordered two italian architects to make the medieval fortress a Renaissance castle for his wife.

There is only one chamber that can be seen in its original place, the chamber of art and curiosities.
In this chamber are stored precious objects, scentific, and toys.

The Archduke was more interested in his armouries, and in the "Rüstkammer" you can see very rare examples of armour from the 15th century.
Those armour are originally coming from Emperor Maximilian I and the Archduke Sigismund collection.

Then the Spanish hall, that has been built between 1569 and 1572.
The Hall is 43mt long and it's dominated by 27 full-lenght portraits of the princely rulers of the Tyrol.

In the upper castle, which is the oldest part, you will find the "Habsburg Portrait Gallery", made of about 300 portraits from the 15th to the 19th century.

Also don't forget, once you have visited the whole castle, to take a walk in the fantastic park around it.

Archduke Ferdinand II, son of Emperor Ferdinand I, had the medieval Castle converted into the present Renaissance castle for his wife Philippine Welser, who was of lower social rank, and his two sons. Two display his collections of world-wide fame the archduke, eager to follow humanistic principles, had built one of the oldest modern museums.

the palace or castle as it is called has a beautiful ambience.the history is fascinating,since it was built for a lady who was not from a royal family.I found it fascinating to gaze at the old potraits and read the tidbits of information about them,besides marvel at the castle itself. the grounds below are home to peacocks and there is a good cafetaria.Nice to spend a relaxing day or at least half a day.There is also a bigger garden outside the castle which is nice for a good walk.
If using public transport it is better to use the sightseer bus rather than the tram,for if you go by tram the walk is quite tedious.the sightseer bus takes you right outside the castle.

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Schloss Ambras is a short bus trip outside of Innsbruck's inner town. Built in the 16th century, it was intended from the onset to house art collections. Its patron, Archduke Ferdinand II (1529-1595), founded the chamber of wonders, the armoury and the antiques collection that are visited today in the Lower Castle.

The Upper Castle, which were originally the Archduke's living quarters, has been turned into a portrait gallery. Not quite as interesting as the Lower Castle, but worth a look nonetheless, especially if you want to see a portrait of Vlad the Impaler.

Aside from the medieval armours and the chamber of wondersmy favourite part was the Spanish Hall, which is 43 m long. It contains the portraits of 27 rulers of the Tyrol. The hall is said to be "one of the most important freestanding halls of the Renaissance". Nowadays classical concerts are given there.

The castle is open every day from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except in August, when it closes an hour later. Admission is 8 euros from April to October, but only 4.50 euros from December to March.

The castle was a medieval fortress that was restored in Renaissance style during the fourteenth century becoming Ferdinand II's summer residence. Today the castle is center of the Renaissance collections of Ferdinand II among which there is the Waffensammlung and the gallery of pictures.
Sorry for the bad photo but I took it from the roof of the my hotel :)

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Visit the Ambras castle and feel yourself transported to the Middle Age where the archduke Ferdinand II. (1529-1595) promoted arts and science sustantially. He founded the Ambras collection, a very modern museum by then.

Take a walk in the beautiful park or through the woods behind the park!

unfortunately the website link is only in German!

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There's evidence that a castle of some description existed as early as the 11th century, but the building we see today dates from the 16th century. It was, in turn, made into a museum by Archduke Ferdinand II from the outset. The Wunderkammer (Gallery of Wonders) contains a slightly bizarre collection of exotic objects - coral, ivory, a rhinoceros' horn and other artifacts brought back to Europe by explorers. The top half of the palace is the Habsburg's Portrait Gallery: an awe-inspiring collection of works by Cranach, Mor, Titian, Van Dyck and Velásquez, among others. It's quite an extraordinary collection, housed in a relatively small room - eyes and faces really do peer down at you. And there's a mammoth collection of armoury on display. The Spanish Room is a wonderfully decorated function room of the period.

The landcaped gardens are extensive and well worth wandering through

We spent the afternoon in the Scholss Ambras, and it was great. A lot to see, the exquisite collection of armory, unusual objects of art and curiosities, magnificent collection of portraits, and the lovely Spanish Hall.