Read aloud by your device's voice. It sounds different on each device.
Prince Eugene
Prince Eugene of Savoy built the Belvedere as a summer residence
The Belvedere is a complex of two Baroque palaces, the Upper and Lower Belvedere, with the Orangery, the Palace Stables and a formal Baroque garden. It was built as the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy, who bought the land in 1697 and chose Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt as chief architect.
The garden
The garden was laid out in the French manner and refers to Apollo
The gardens were designed in the formal French manner by Dominique Girard, who had trained in the gardens of Versailles. The main garden extends between the Lower and Upper Belvedere over three large terraces. Its sculptures link Prince Eugene to the god Apollo.
Upper Belvedere
The Upper Belvedere was finished in 1723 for ceremonies and display
Construction of the Upper Belvedere began in the late 1710s and was completed in 1723. The palace was conceived less as a private residence than as a representative building for ceremonies, receptions, and display. Prince Eugene received the Turkish ambassador Ibrahim Pasha there in 1719.
A gallery
The imperial picture gallery moved here to be open to the public
In 1776 Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II decided to move the Imperial Picture Gallery to the Upper Belvedere, so that the imperial collection would be accessible to the public. It is often described as one of the world's first public art museums. The Moderne Galerie opened in the Lower Belvedere on 2 May 1903.
1955
The Austrian State Treaty was signed at the Upper Belvedere in 1955
On 15 May 1955 the Austrian State Treaty was signed at the Upper Belvedere. The permanent collection includes works by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka. The Belvedere holds an important collection of Klimt's works, including The Kiss.
Day 4, morning
Next is Stadtpark.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Belvedere, Vienna, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.