Innsbruck

The River Inn flows through Austria's Tyrolean capital, a tributary of the Danube. Lying midway between Munich in Germany and Verona in Italy, it is surrounded by a dramatic backdrop from the jagged rocky spires of the Nordkette mountain range.

To head for the mountains without spending time in Innsbruck would be to miss out on seeing it's dreamy late medieval Altstadt fairy tale architecture.

The two bell towers and dome of Dom zu St. Jakob (St. James) Innsbruck's C18th Baroque Cathedral

The Golden Eagle is one of Innsbruck's oldest and most important inns. Since it opened in 1390 it has served distinguished personalities from politics, art and culture, such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Niccolò Paganini, Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. The Late Gothic frescoes on the facade were rediscovered and restored 60 years ago.

In Innsbruck it pays to caste your eyes skywards

Innsbruck's reknown 'Golden Roof' - this splendid Late Gothic oriel window covered with 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles was commissioned by Emperor Maximilian l (1459 - 1519) to commemorate his wedding to Bianca Maria Sforza of Milan. 

The imposing Baroque marble structure of the high altar in Dom zu St. Jakob contains the cathedral's most precious treasure

  the painting Maria Hilf (Mary of Succor) by Lucas Cranach the Elder c1530

The tomb of Archduke Maximilian lll and Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights - The German speaking Order of Teutonic Knights was formed in the c12th to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals. They were a similar order to the Knights Hospitallers which I wrote about here. The tomb canopy consists of four bronze columns adorned with vine leaves, birds and insects. Dressed in armour the bare headed Archduke kneels on a cushion with his hands folded in prayer. St. George stands behind him, his hand resting on the archduke's shoulder as behind them both a slain dragon slithers away

The gilded and silver plated Baroque pulpit is adorned with three divine virtues supporting the base, symbols of the four Evangelists, and a host of angels and cherubs surmount the pulpit itself - made in 1725 by the Innsbruck sculptor Nikolaus Moll it is considered a Baroque masterpiece


In a future post the most historial monument in the Tyrol - a favourite place of mine to visit in Innsbruck