May 28, 2010 – Vienna, Austria
On our last day in Vienna, we visited the beautiful Belvedere Palace. There are actually two palaces separated by a lovely garden. We focused on the lower palace because it features mostly Baroque art – our favorite. The upper palace features Klimt and French impressionists.
Belvedere Palace was the elegant residence of the Prince Eugene of Savoy who lived from 1663 to 1736. Prince Eugene is still the much appreciated conqueror of the Ottomans, a Frenchman who was considered too ugly to serve French king Louis the 14th.
While he was indeed short and ugly, he became the greatest military genius of his age and the toast of Viennese society. When you conquer cities, as Eugene did, you get really rich.
He had no heirs and so the state got all his assets, including this palace, which Franz Josef established as Austria’s first great public art gallery. Belvedere means “beautiful view”. We admired the beautiful Baroque gardens.
The mysterious sphinxes symbolize solving riddles and the finely educated mind of our successful host, Prince Eugene. Inside there is a world class art collection featuring Klimt and a lot of French Impressionists.
Sadly photography inside the beautiful Marble Hall, East Wing, and upper and lower palace is not allowed.
Video from our visit:
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