Würzburg residence

The Würzburg residence is the most charming and significant palace building in the Baroque style. Here was the residence of the prince-bishops of Würzburg. The most famous architects of the 18th century from France, Austria, and Italy took part in the creation of the magnificent Baroque palace.

History of Creation

The beginning of the construction of the Würzburg residence dates back to 1740, although the original project dates back to 1719. But for a long time, the princes of Wurzburg (which included several bishops and cardinals) could not find money to build this grandiose building, living in the small fortress of Marienberg, where a modest residence was erected by order of the ruler of the town. But very soon the appetites of the ruling family increased, and they decided to change their place of residence by building a small house in Würzburg. But I wanted something completely unusual and captivating.

Funding was found quite unexpectedly. As it turned out, the bishop's secretary had been stealing money from the treasury for a long time. In order not to bother with the courts, the parties agreed to pay a penalty in the amount of more than 600,000 guilders, which was quite enough for the construction of "little Versailles" (in those days, building magnificent estates, collecting books and paintings was considered good form, so all the princes tried to surround themselves with exquisite objects, trying to surpass the neighbors).

The overall direction of the project went to Balthazar Neumann, who at that time was only 33 years old. But, despite his small age, the architect managed to combine the best examples of the construction of Austria-Hungary, France, Flanders in a charming palace, which is admired to this day. True, the construction lasted for 30 years, a luxurious park appeared even later.

What to see?

The Würzburg residence consists of more than 400 halls and rooms, but only 42 rooms are open to tourists. Although they are enough to appreciate the scope of construction and design.

The main architectural sights of the Würzburg residence are considered to be the main facade with lush French decor and a magnificent staircase, which is an amazing creation of engineers of that time, who left the steps to lie on graceful vaults and removed additional supports (by the way, despite the apparent fragility of the spans, the staircase was able to survive with honor all the bombings of the Second World War, remaining unscathed among the collapsed outbuildings).

Above the flight of stairs is the most famous fresco by Giovanni Tiepollo, which is 32 meters long and 18 meters wide. Other works of the artist found their place in the beautiful Imperial Hall of the Würzburg residence: another pearl of the delightful palace. The special charm of this room is given by the white finish, the abundance of glass and mirrors, located, it seems, on any more or less suitable surface. Thanks to this design, the hall seems to be floating above the ground.

From the Imperial Hall follows a long suite of rooms, decorated with exquisite lace stucco, marbled paintings, paintings, tapestries, elegantly inlaid furniture.

The Garden Hall, located in front of the exit to the park, is also unusual. Most of all, this weightless structure resembles an airy garden gazebo. This effect is achieved with the help of an arcade of slender columns supporting the hipped arch, and greenery peeping through the French windows.

The court church, filled with the comfort of pink columns, light frescoes, and charming imitation of marble, deserves attention.