Classical Antiquity and Vienna

A short report from avtrip to Vienna by Agnieszka Maciejewska, a PhD student at the Faculty of “Artes Liberales” UW, Research Assistant in the Our Mythical Childhood Project. 

When you find yourself in Vienna you have to visit places like Belvedere, Schönbrunn Palace, and Hofburg. These are not only must-see places but also examples of the strong Antiquity influence on culture. During the walk in the Schönbrunn Palace’s Gardens, we can encounter the beautiful Neptune fountain where many concerts take place.

When you are in Belvedere it is worth not only to contemplate the famous Gustav Klimt’s Kiss but also an astonishing interior of the building. The same feelings may appear in front of majestic Hofburg. Right next to it there are ruins of “Roman walls” dated back to the 1st–5th century AD.

One of the important places to see in Vienna is the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien. Besides the famous paintings, there is an interesting exhibition on the ground floor. We can see the famous Benvenuto Cellini’s Salt Cellar (Saliera) and exhibitions focused on ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt there. If you are interested in a face to face encounter with a bust of Augustus or a meeting with Cleopatra VII presented on tetradrachm it is a must-see place to visit during a trip to Vienna. It is a wonderful city worth exploring and spending more time there – maybe you will also be able to trace down the marks of Antiquity in this amazing city.

And here you can watch a short movie (in German) by the Museum about Cellini’s Saliera:

Text and pictures by Agnieszka Maciejewska

Post introduced by Olga Strycharczyk