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Famous sites
Hofburg Palace
Schönbrunn Palace
Belvedere Palace
Karlskirche
Austrian Parliament
City Hall
Burgtheater
Michaelertor
Joh. Strauss Monument
Riesenrad
UNO City
Views of Vienna
View from my window
Grinzing - my
district
Austrian mountain
sceneries
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Historic Vienna, the capital of Austria,
flourished as a city of royalty and is today distinguished by its outstanding
architecture, its renowned cultural accomplishments, and its spacious parks.
Vienna’s site was once home to a Celtic village, and from the 1st century
BC to the 5th century AD, it was a stronghold of the Roman Empire. Its
Latin name is Vindobona. Vienna grew into a trading hub and staging
area for the Crusades during the 12th century. A century later the royal
Habsburg family gained control of the region, and the city served as the
core of their empire for many centuries. Although Vienna endured many armed
threats during these years (among them the Turkish siege in 1683), only
Napoleon Bonaparte succeeded in occupying Vienna, and then only briefly
in the early 19th century. The city served as the
administrative center
of German Austria from 1938 until 1945, when Allied troops began their
ten-year occupation.
Present-day Vienna has a population of 1.6 million. Situated along the Danube in northeastern
Austria, a restored Vienna now serves as a cosmopolitan gateway between
eastern and western Europe. Flowering trees, parks, and walkways line the
horseshoe-shaped Ringstrasse, a boulevard that encloses the inner city
and extends to the Donaukanal. Coffeehouses and theaters reflect the peaceful,
pleasant ambiance in this city, where people have long celebrated the joys
of life. For centuries, Vienna reigned as the music capital of the Western
world. Haydn, Mozart, and Schubert are among the world-famous composers
who called Vienna home. The city’s remarkable architecture includes the
15th-century Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, with its lofty Gothic spires, the
18th-century baroque Church of Saint Charles Borromeo, with its prominent
dome, and Empress Maria Theresia's 17th century Schönbrunn
palace. Contemporary Vienna has expanded into suburbs, which are served
by the U-bahn subway and a high-speed metropolitan railway.
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