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The Hofburg Palace has been
preferred to be used as a winter
palace whereas Schönbrunn
Palace has been preferred as
a summer palace. It is stated
that there are over 4,5 million
historical artifacts in the Hofburg
Palace. Another interesting point
to note is that Marie Antoinette,
one of the French queens has
also stayed in this palace. There
is a statue in front of the main
building of the palace showing
Prince Eugene on horseback.
Seeing the Ephesus Museum
located in one wing of the
building may arise different
feelings in you. Even though it
is not as rich as the Ephesus
Museum in Selçuk, it still has
busts that are visually impressive.
The Bronze Athlete Statue
given as a gift to the Austrian
committee that undertook the
excavation of the Ephesus
Antique City is the most important
piece in the museum. There
are also some statues from the
Celcus Library that are displayed
here. The Sisi Museum, Spanish
Riding School, Austria National
Library, Royal Apartments, Royal
Silver Collection, Royal Jewellery
Museum and Hofberg Chapel are
located in the palace complex
encircling the Heldenplatz
Square and the garden known as
Volksgarten overlooking Graben.
Whereas the building at the
back hosts the Museum of Art
History, the Papyrus Museum and
the Etnography Museum. The
rear side of Hofburg was once
Burggarten meaning the palace
garden whereas it is now used as
a large park. The statue of Mozart
is here. The location overlooking
the park that resembles
a botanical garden is the
Palmenhaus Cafe. The tropical
plant greenhouse of the palace
is now used as a café. This café-
restaurant frequented by tourists
and university students should be
seen and included in the travel
notes. Augustinerkirche Church
and Albertina Museum are
located right behind Palmenhaus.
The “Butterfly House” known as
Schmetterlinghaus is located next
to it. It is practically a butterfly
garden in which dozens of
butterflies fly around in the midst
of the city encircled by tropical
plants. Burggarten located right
in front of Palmenhaus is one of
the locations where the Viennese
people lie around to enjoy the
sun and clear sky especially in
beautiful weather. This is also
true for Volksgarten and all other
parks. It should be emphasized
that 28% of the city center of
Vienna is green area.
The museum region is located
behind the Hofburg palace
complex. I am aware that I
just mentioned many museum
names. Vienna is a city of art and
it is home to the best museums
in the world. We can say that
there is a museum almost in
every corner. The first glamorous
building in the Theresienplatz
Square where Maria Theresa is
located at is the Naturhistorisches
Museum, that is the Museum
of Natural History whereas the
other one right across it is the
Kunsthistorisches Museum, that
is the Museum of Art History
hosting one of the best art
collections in the world. There is
another museum complex known
as Museum Quartier right behind
these two museums. It hosts the
Designforum, Architectural Müze,
the Museum of Modern Arts
known as Mumok, Kunsthalle
Wien and Leopold Museum.
Leopold Museum stands out in
this complex since it hosts the
largest Egon Schiele and Gustav
Klimt collections. The famous
“Kiss” painting by Klimt is located
in the Belvedere Palace, however
the Leopold Museum collection
should not be missed by art
lovers due to the variety of its
collection and the place it has
allocated to Klimt. The structure
resembling Greek temples
located to the left of the museum
region belongs to the Austrian
Parliament. The striking building
you see to the right when you
pass Burggarten in the direction
of Karlsplatz is Staatsoper, that is
the Opera Building.
Vienna has a century old musical
tradition from Beethoven to
Chopin, Haydn to Mozart,
Strauss to the street artists of
today. A large number of concert
halls open their doors to music
lovers almost every night and of
course the Vienna State Opera,
Staatsoper is the most famous
among these. Of course one
should not leave Vienna without
going to a classical music
concert. We should immediately
mention that you have to make
reservations. There is also a spot
