Belvedere, Vienna

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Belvedere Palace (constructed in the Baroque/Rococo style) was built for Prince Eugene of Savoy as a summer residence. It was one of the major tourists locations, which we wanted to visit. As luck would have it, there weren't many people there, so we had a quiet stroll around the grounds (could also be that it was late in the afternoon on a Sunday).

There are actually two palaces on the Belvedere grounds which house museums featuring Austrian paintings...in the lower palace the "Österreichisches Barockmuseum" (Austrian Museum of Baroque Art) displays Austrian Art of the 18th century, while in the upper palace you can view Austrian painting collections from the 19th and 20th century.

There is no charge to enter the grounds, but there is a fee for going into the museums. So take a look at the website below for detailed information.

The Upper Belvedere Palace was originally built as a summer residence by Prince Eugene of Savoy. It now houses a museum of 19th and 20th century art, with an emphasis on Austrian artists. In addition to its fine art collection, the Upper Belevedere Palace also offers visitors a nice view of Vienna because of its hilltop location.

The Belvedere Palace complex (consisting of the Upper and Lower Belvedere Palaces) was built by Prince Eugene of Savoy as a summer residence. The two palaces are now art museums. The Lower Belvedere Palace is a museum of medieval and baroque art.

The Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere is a fantastic and important collection that spans the Middle Ages up to the present day. Set in the beautiful summer Belvedere Palace which Prince Eugene of Savoy had built in the 16th century, it is the home to the famous Gustav Klimt painting The Kiss.

There are two main parts of the palace, the Upper Belvedere and Lower Belvedere. They are both two separate palace buildings on either side of a Baroque garden.

The Upper Belvedere houses the collection of the 19th and 20th centuries, namely works by artists like Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka, Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, etc.

The Lower Belvedere contains the Musem of Medieval Art and the Baroque Museum. Besides the paintings, the Lower Belvedere has impressive rooms, like the Marble Room, Marble Gallery, the Gold Cabinet, and the Hall of Grotesques.

While I enjoyed the collections of Klimt and Schiele, I personally preferred the collections at the Lower Belvedere. Call me a romantic at heart, but I thought the medieval and baroque collections, as well as the rooms and halls there were more impressive and the imagery more grandiose.

OPENING HOURS:
Tuesday to Sunday: 10 am - 6 pm
Entrance: till 5.30 pm
Closed on Monday

ADMISSION
€ 7.50
Various discounts available for groups, senior citizens, child, etc

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Quite a lovely palace with exquisite landscaping (although it could have used a soccer pitch), the artwork inside was awesome. Works by Klimpt (The Kiss) and Egon Schiele as well as many impressionist, local and classical artists. It was a wonderful way to start my exploration of Vienna. There are some wonderful paintings by the Viennese painter Biedermeier. The downside is that no photographs are allowed inside.

Built by Prince Eugene of Savoy in the 18th Century as the summer residence.

Open daily from 10 AM to 6 PM, on Weds to 9 PM. The combined ticket price is 13.50E, or for just the upper or lower, 9.50E.

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Belvedere consists of two beautiful Baroque castles in Landstraße (Vienna's 3rd district). It was originally built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy -- who was most famous for being the commander of the Hapsburg army in its victory over the Ottomans at the Battle of Zenta in 1697.

Today, the Belvedere houses an art museum with many great works of art -- including Gustav Klimt's famous painting "The Kiss".

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The Belvedere - the Belvedere consists of two wonderful palaces - the Upper and Lower Belvedere. They were built in the 18th century as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy and designed by the famous Baroque architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt.

The Upper Belvedere houses a collection of Austrian art from the Middle Ages to the present day. Its most famous exhibits are Gustav Klimt's golden pictures The Kiss and Judith.
The Lower Belvedere contains Prince Eugene's living quarters and state rooms.
The magnificent gardens of the Belvedere with its statues and fountains can be visited free of charge.

Both the upper and lower Belvedere are open from 10am to 6pm (the Lower is open till 9pm on Wednesdays).

Admission to both sights on a combined ticket costs 13.50 Euros, the Upper Belvedere alone costs 9.50 Euros, the Lower Belvedere alone costs 9.50 Euros.

We did not visit the interiors of the palaces, but spent a couple of enjoyable hours wandering around the stunning gardens.

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I was thinkig of adding this tip to the "Off the Beaten Path" section for one reason. I didn't visit the Palaces. Maybe you wonder why? I was enjoying my last hours in Vienna. I had visited the other Palaces, Neue Burg and Schönbrunn, some churches and Museums, and it was a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon, so, I decided just to stroll the gardens, that's why I thought that my activity could have been a bit weird (or "Off...).

Next time, maybe I'll visit the Palace and the exhibitions there.

The complex is mainly divided into two venues: Upper Beevedere and Lower Belvedere as well as the Palace Stables.

Pics:
- Main and second: Upper Belveder.
- Third: Lower Belvedere.

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The Belvedere was built by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt for Prince Eugene of Savoy. The Prince was the most celebrated of the Habsburg generals due to his defeat of the Turks in 1683. The Prince acquired the land in 1697 but had to wait until he received his reward money from his victories during the Spanish succession to start work on the Lower Belvedere in 1714 and finished in 1716. The Lower Belvedere was used by the Prince as a residence but he required something grander so work was started on the Upper Belvedere in 1721 and was completed in the record time of 1 year. The Upper Belvedere was used for receptions, negotiations and feasts. At the time the grounds contained various gardens, an aviary and a small zoo.

Tourists flock to this place especially because of the works of art exhibited inside. The galleries do indeed deserve a visit, however this palace, built at the beginning of the 18th century, deserves a visit in its own right, for its architecture and its beautiful formal gardens.