Würzburg

About an hour south of Aschaffenburg, through forests and rolling green fields, is the city of Würzburg. This city has a number of amazing buildings and is very walkable, with squares and streets lined with shops and cafes. This city was almost completely destroyed during WWII, but has since been rebuilt to its original grandeur.

At the top of a hill overlooking the city lies Marienberg Fortress, that began being built around 1200 and from 1253 to 1719 was the seat of the Prince Bishops. It is an impressive compound that has thick fortress walls, a moat, and guard towers. Above is a portion of the fortress that includes a keep (tower), an ornate church (right), and a 300 ft. well encased by the round building in the foreground. The other picture is an entrance to the fortress that wraps around to the left behind us.

We ate at an old mill along the Main River that has been converted into a restaurant. At the top of the hill you can see Marienberg Fortress and also Alte Mainbruke, a walking bridge erected from 1473 to 1543 lined with statues of Saints added around 1730.

This behemoth of a building (so big I couldn’t fit the entire thing on our camera) is simply known as “The Residence”. It is a palace built from 1720-1744 and was the home and administrative building of a very powerful Bishop/chancellor of the region. Unfortunately, no pictures allowed inside, so this is what we are missing (click here for some pictures online):

- This crazy staircase with a self-supporting vaulted ceiling covered by the largest continuous fresco in the world.

- The White Hall that is decorated with ornate stucco.

- The Imperial Hall, which has amazing marble floors, gilded gold walls, and a frescoes that have 3D sculpting

- A room of mirrors, that are intricately painted and gilded in gold

- A room painted in green on silver plating, which gives it a luminescent quality

There is also an extensive garden to the side and rear of the palace, including some interesting sculptures (eg. wrestling babies).

This square includes Falkenhaus (right), a guesthouse with an ornate stucco façade, and Marienkapelle (left), a Gothic period church built from 1377 to 1480.