During the Christmas “quiet season” Mozart’s city of Salzburg reveals its many different, yet always enchanting, facets.
It is the season for a romantic walk across the city’s hilltops, affording a breathtaking view of the city’s snow-covered roofs, domes and towers.
But Salzburg is also an ideal place to pick up some festive gifts, playing host as it does to a fabulous Christmas market.
Salzburg’s Mirabell Square is the market’s setting from mid-November till later December each year.
From the late 17th century, the main Salzburg Christmas market took place on Cathedral Square, but it was closed during the dark days of Nazism, and reopened north of the river on Mirabell Square after the war.
Happily, there are now Christmas markets in both squares, offering gifts and foodstuffs to warm hearts, hands and feet.
As for the city’s traditional all-year-round attractions, there is plenty to keep you busy. As the home of Mozart and the celebrated Salzburg Festival, as well as the setting for “The Sound of Music” in 1964, Salzburg is known worldwide as a musical city.
Nestled in between the Kapuzinerberg and Monchsberg mountains on the Salzach River, Salzburg is visually stunning – recognised as much for its concentration of high baroque architecture as it is for the surrounding Alpine scenery.
A favourite activity is The Sound of Music Tour, which takes tourists to such landmarks as the Nonnberg Convent, the Residenzplatz and the Mirabell Palace Gardens.
Other popular sites include Mozartplatz, a central square featuring a statue of the composer; and Mozart’s Gerburthaus, his famous birthplace.
Picture is from Flikr
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