Saturday, April 13, 2013

My Visual Travel Experience: Ljubljana

Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, has a population of approximately 280,000. Slovenia was a part of the erstwhile Yugoslavia but declared independence in 1991. Since 1991, the country has done well economically and has become a popular tourist destination. Ljubljana is a pretty little town that offers quite a bit to a visitor, and it also has several attractions nearby that one can easily manage in a day's trip. Modern Ljubljana owes a lot of its planning to the famous Slovenian architect, Plecnik.


Ljubljana Castle was built in the 11th century AD. Under Austrian rule, it became the property of the Habsburgs. During the years that followed, it has been a military headquarter, a refuge for the poor and a prison. Perched up on a hill rising from the town centre, the castle offers a splendid view of Ljubljana. The castle has a clock tower and the beautiful Chapel of St George, with its many coats of arms painted on the walls. The castle's courtyard has a nice outdoor restaurant serving ethnic Slovenian food.
Ljubljana Castle
St George Chapel, Ljubljana Castle
Chapel, Ljubljana Castle
Academy Philharmonica with Ljubljana Castle
in the Background
The St Nicholas Cathedral dates back to 1707. It is a wonderful example of Baroque architecture, and has a beautiful, rich interior. The cathedral’s bronze doors were built for the 1996 visit by Pope John Paul II - one panel shows Pope John Paul II looking in from a window. 
St Nicholas Cathedral
Bronze door of St Nicholas Cathedral
Pieta, St Nicholas Cathedral
The Franciscan Church, with its pink coloured façade, lies next to the statue of Preseren, the well known  Slovenian poet. Preseren is a national hero, and the sculpture dedicated to him has the poet with a book, and behind him is a muse.
Preseren Statue
Franciscan Church
Ceiling, Franciscan Church
High Altar, Franciscan Church
View of Franciscan Church from Ljubljana Castle
The Holy Trinity Church is one of Ljubljana’s better known churches. It is a baroque church, completed in 1726. The bell tower was destroyed in an earthquake in 1895, but was re-constructed shortly afterwards. The church has a medieval Gothic Pieta statue.

Holy Trinity Church
High Altar, Holy Trinity Church
The Town Hall dates back to 1719, and has a distinctive clocktower. It lies in the heart of the town.
Town Hall
Next to the Town Hall lies the Fountain of Three Rivers of Carniola, completed in 1751. It was made by Francesco Robba and  is dedicated to the three main rivers of Slovenia. The original piece now lies in the National Gallery, but there is a replica outside the Town Hall.

Fountain of Three Rivers of Carniola
A little outside the town, Postojna Caves have over 20 km of underground chambers and tunnels,  full of stalagmites and stalactites, formed over a period of 3 million years by seeping water from the Pivka River. A train takes visitors into the centre of the caves, where visitors can then go on guided walking tours. The caves were opened to visitors in 1819, with Francis I of the Habsburg Empire as the guest of honour.
Postojna Caves
Situated close to Postojna Caves, Predjama Castle is on a hillside near the mouth of a cave.  The origins of the castle can be traced back to the 13th century AD.  The castle has rooms with interesting furnishings and weaponry. There’s also a little chapel inside with a Gothic Pieta from 1420. During my visit there, I was told by the ticket attendant that I was probably the first tourist from India to have visited. Well, I can strongly recommend to my fellow country-men that the castle is certainly worth a visit!
Predjama Castle
Court Room, Predjama Castle
Knights Hall, Predjama Castle
So with its various castles, churches and museums, as well as its charming town centre, Ljubljana is a lovely place and is highly recommended.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

My Visual Travel Experience: Salzburg

Salzburg, a stunningly beautiful town in Austria near the border with Germany, is a town having a population of ~ 150,000. It certainly ranks amongst my favourite towns anywhere in the world. Salzburg is less than 3 hours by train or road from the Austrian capital, Vienna, and I recommend a visit of atleast 2 days to walk around and explore the town's sights, take in a classical music performance, and go on the Sound of Music tour. 
View of the Dom from Hohensalzburg
The city’s main attractions include the Dom (the large baroque cathedral), the Hohen Salzburg (the medieval castle rising above the town atop a hillock, and the spot from where the town's powerful archbishops used to rule), the Mirabell Palace (with its beautiful gardens adorned with marble sculptures and floral decorations), and the Mozarts Geburtshaus (the birth-place of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the famous composer who lived from 1756 to 1791 and is the town’s most famous son). 
Mirabell Palace
Neptune Fountain
St George's Church at Hohensalzburg
Salzburg is a major cultural centre, and plays host to the annual Salzburger Festspiele, an opera and theatre festival, which began in 1920 and became an annual event.
 
The town was popularized by the 1964 film, the Sound Of Music, which brought out the beauty of the town and its surroundings. Even today, there is a Sound Of Music tour, which takes the visitor to many of the venues where the movie was shot, including places in Austria’s lake district, like Mondsee, just outside the town. Highlights of the tour include Michelskirche, where Maria and Captain Von Trapp got married, and the Leopoldskron Castle, where the famous boating scene took place.
Sound of Music Bus Tour
Michelskirche at Mondsee
High Altar at Michelskirche, Mondsee
Interior of Michelskirche, Mondsee
Marktplatz at Mondsee
Rathaus, the Town Hall, at Mondsee
Leopoldskron Castle
The Dom (Salzburg Cathedral) stands out because of its large dome and two bell towers. It dates back to 1628. The front façade has sculptures of the cathedral’s patron saints Rupert and Virgil, as well as the Saints Peter and Paul.  The nave of the cathedral can accommodate 10,000 people at a time, which was more than the population of Salzburg when the cathedral was built!
Dom
Interior of the Dom
The thousand year old Hohensalzburg castle is perched up on a hill rising above the town and connected to it through a funicular system. This is from where the Archbishops ruled over the town for centuries. The castle was expanded over the centuries, and is one of Europe’s best preserved medieval castles. The complex has a medieval armoury, a Puppet Museum and the small but pretty St George Church.
View from Mirabell Palace of the Dom and Hohensalzburg
Salzburg’s main pedestrian street is Getreidegasse, full of shops and cafes, as well as confectionery shops selling the famous Mozartkugeln chocolates. All shop signages are beautifully decorated. Mozartsgeburtshaus, the house where Wolfganag Amadeus Mozart was born, lies on the street and has paintings of Mozart and his family members, musical instruments used by Mozart, and even a tuft of his hair! The small Blasiuskirche is at one end of the street.
Getreidegasse
Shop signage, Getreidegasse
The Stift St Peter is a Benedictine abbey dating back to the 7th century AD and it was founded by St Rupert, though the present church dates back to the 13th century. There was, however, a lot of work that went into remodeling the abbey in the 17th and 18th centuries. The cemetery behind the abbey is the oldest cemetery in Salzburg. This is where some well known residents of the town were buried, including Nanerl (Mozart’s sister) and Johann Michael Haydn (the brother of composer Joseph Haydn).
Stift St Peter
Graveyard, Stift St Peter
Interior, Stift St Peter
The Mirabell Palace boasts of a beautiful garden, full of flowers, fountains and sculptures. There is also a museum of baroque art. From the gardens, one gets a spectacular view of the town’s main sights, including the Hohensalzburg and the Dom. The garden has a fountain with a Pegasus Statue.
Pegasus Statue at Mirabell Palace
So for me personally, Salzburg offers a lot. It's not just the sights mentioned above, but also great music (it's almost as if Mozart comes alive there, with the town centre famous for its street performances), great food (Salzburg has a branch of Vienna's famous Sacher Hotel, famous for its Sacher Torte, the famous Austrian chocolate cake), and a spectacular surrounding area with its hills and lakes.