20 Best Sights in The Altstadt, Salzburg

Set within the beautiful Domplatz with the Virgin's Column in its center, this gorgeous cathedral is considered to be the first early-Italian Baroque building north of the Alps. Its facade is of marble, its towers reach 250 feet into the air, and it holds 10,000 people. There has been a cathedral on this spot since the 8th century, but the present structure dates from the 17th century. The cathedral honors the patron saint of Salzburg, St. Rupert, who founded Nonnberg Abbey around 700, and also the Irish St. Virgil, the founder of the first cathedral, consecrated in 774, whose relics lie buried beneath the altar. Archbishop Wolf-Dietrich took advantage of the old Romanesque-Gothic cathedral's destruction by fire in 1598 to demolish the remains and make plans for a huge new structure facing onto the Residenzplatz to reaffirm Salzburg's commitment to the Catholic cause. His successor, Markus Sittikus, and the new court architect, Santino Solari, started the present cathedral in 1614; it was consecrated with great ceremony in 1628 during the Thirty Years' War. The church's simple sepia-and-white interior, a peaceful counterpoint to the usual Baroque splendor, dates from a later renovation. To see remains of the old cathedral, go down the steps from the left-side aisle into the crypt where the archbishops from 1600 on are buried. Mozart's parents, Leopold and Anna-Maria, were married here in 1747 and Mozart was christened, the day after he was born, at the 14th-century font. He later served as organist here from 1779 to 1781 and wrote some of his compositions such as the Coronation Mass specifically for the cathedral. It was a good fit, as this is the only house of worship in the world with five independent fixed organs. Today, they are sometimes played together during special church-music concerts.

On Sunday and all Catholic holidays, mass is held at 10 am—the most glorious time to experience the cathedral's full splendor.

For the first time since the early 1800s, you can look down on the original heart of Salzburg as once only the powerful archbishops could, as you walk the top-floor corridors surrounding the Domplatz that connect the Residenz (palace), Dom (cathedral), and St. Peter's Abbey. In the Residenz, see the magnificent State Rooms, including the Kaisersaal (Imperial Hall) and the Rittersaal (Knight's Hall). Of particular note are the frescoes by Johann Michael Rottmayr and Martino Altomonte depicting the history of Alexander the Great. Upstairs on the third floor is the Residenzgalerie, a princely art collection specializing in 17th-century Dutch and Flemish art and 19th-century paintings of Salzburg. On the State Rooms floor, Mozart's opera La Finta Semplice premiered in 1769 in the Guard Room. Also included is the fascinating Dommuseum, with cathedral art from the 8th to 18th centuries, as well as the Museum St. Peter with valuable art treasures from the monastery's collections. You'll also enjoy a beautiful balcony view of the cathedral interior, as well as expansive vistas of the city. The interior walkways make it particularly appealing on one of Salzburg's frequent rainy days.

This homage to Salzburg's prodigal son offers fascinating insights into his life and works, with carefully curated relics of Mozart's youth, listening rooms, and models of famous productions of his operas. As an adult, the great composer preferred Vienna to Salzburg, complaining that audiences in his native city were no more responsive than tables and chairs. Still, home is home, and this was Mozart's—when not on one of his frequent trips abroad—until the age of 17. Mozart was born on the third (in American parlance, the fourth) floor of this tall house on January 27, 1756, and his family lived here in the front apartment, when they were not on tour, from 1747 to 1773. As the child prodigy composed many of his first compositions in these rooms, it is fitting and touching to find Mozart's tiny first violin on display.

Right in the heart of the Old City is the Alter Markt, the old marketplace and former center of secular life in the city. The square is lined with 17th-century, middle-class houses, colorfully hued in shades of pink, pale blue, and yellow ocher. Look in at the old royal pharmacy, the Hofapotheke, whose ornate black-and-gold Rococo interior was built in 1760. Inside, the curious apothecarial smell can be traced to the shelves of Latin-labeled pots and jars. The pharmacy is still operating today and you can even have your blood pressure taken—but preferably not after drinking a Doppelter Einspänner (black coffee with whipped cream, served in a glass) in the famous Café Tomaselli just opposite. In warm weather, the café's terrace provides a wonderful spot for watching the world go by as you sip a Melange (another coffee specialty, served with frothy milk), as does the chestnut tree-shaded Tomaselli garden at the top of the square.

Next to the coffeehouse you'll find the smallest house in Salzburg; note the slanting roof decorated with a dragon gargoyle. In the center of the square is the marble St. Florian's Fountain, dedicated in 1734 to the patron saint of firefighters.

With the world-famous Salzburg Festival as their objective, music lovers head for the Hofstallgasse, the street where the three festival theaters are located. Arrow-straight and framing a grand view of the Fortress Hohensalzburg, the street takes its name from the court stables once located here. Now, in place of the prancing horses, festival goers promenade along Hofstallgasse during the intervals of summer performances, showing off their suntans and elegant attire. If you want to see the inside of the halls, it's best to go to a performance, but guided tours are given and group tours can be booked on request. The first theater is the Haus für Mozart (House for Mozart), formerly the Kleines Festspielhaus, or Small Festival Hall. The massive lobby frescoes by Salzburg painter Anton Faistauer welcome 1,600 patrons to world class Lied (song) recitals and smaller scale operas. The center ring is occupied by the famous Grosses Festspielhaus (Great Festival Hall), leaning against the solid rock of the Mönchsberg. Opened in 1960, it seats more than 2,150. In recent times the Grosses Festspielhaus, nicknamed the Wagner Stage because of headline-making productions of the Ring of the Nibelungs, has been the venue for spectacular operas and concerts by the world's top symphony orchestras and soloists. Stage directors are faced with the greatest challenge in the third theater, the Felsenreitschule (the Rocky Riding School), the former Summer Riding School, which—hewn out of the rock of the Mönchsberg during the 17th century by architect Fischer von Erlach—offers a setting that is itself more dramatic than anything presented on stage. Max Reinhardt made the first attempt at using the Summer Riding School as a stage in 1926. With its retractable roof it gives the impression of an open-air theater; the three tiers of arcades cut into the rock of the Mönchsberg linger in the mind of fans of The Sound of Music film, for the von Trapps were portrayed singing "Edelweiss" here in their last Austrian concert. (In fact, the 1950 Festival farewell by the Trapp Family Singers, conducted by Franz Wasner, was given in the Mozarteum and at the cathedral square.) The theaters are linked by tunnels (partially in marble and with carpeted floors) to a spacious underground garage in the Mönchsberg.

The graceful, tall spire of the Franciscan Church stands out from all other towers in Salzburg; the church itself encompasses the greatest diversity of architectural styles. There was a church on this spot as early as the 8th century, but it was destroyed by fire. The Romanesque nave of its replacement is still visible, as are other Romanesque features, such as a stone lion set into the steps leading to the pulpit. In the 15th century the choir was built in Gothic style, then crowned in the 18th century by an ornate red-marble-and-gilt altar designed by Austria's most famous Baroque architect, Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. Mass—frequently featuring one of Mozart's compositions—is celebrated here on Sunday at 9 am.

This famous carillon bell tower is perched on top of the Neue Residenz (New Residence), Prince-Archbishop Wolf-Dietrich's government palace. The carillon is a later addition, brought from today's Belgium in 1695 and finally put in working order in 1704. The 35 bells play classical tunes (usually by Mozart or Haydn) with charm and ingenuity at 7 am, 11 am, and 6 pm. On Sunday at 11:45 am, musicians perform in the "Trumpeter Tower" at Hohensalzburg Fortress, and their Baroque fanfares can be heard across the Old City. Details about the music selections are listed on a notice board across the square on the corner of the Residenz building.

Completed by Fischer von Erlach in 1707, this church, sometimes called the Universitätskirche, is one of the purest examples of Baroque architecture in Austria. Unencumbered by Rococo decorations, the modified Greek cross plan has a majestic dignity worthy of Palladio.

Just around the corner from the Pferdeschwemme horse fountain, at Anton-Neumayr Platz, you'll find the Mönchsberg elevator, which carries you up 60 meters through solid rock in less than 30 seconds. At the top, you'll find not only to the Museum der Moderne but also some lovely wooded paths that are great for walking and gasping—there are spectacular vistas of Salzburg. In summer, the elevator is a marvelous (and quick) way to escape the tiny, crowded streets of the Old City.

In the center of Mozartplatz, on a marble plinth, stands this impressive bronze statue of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Sculpted by Ludwig Schwanthaler and unveiled in 1842 in the presence of the composer's two surviving sons (how's that for pressure?), it was the first sign of public recognition Mozart received from his hometown since his death in Vienna in 1791. The statue, the first for a non-noble person in Austria, is very much a 19th-century stylized view of the composer, draped in a mantle and holding a page of music and a copybook.

There are two branches of the Museum der Moderne in Salzburg: Mönchsberg and Rupertinum. The former enjoys one of Salzburg's most famous scenic spots, atop the sheer cliff face of the Mönchsberg. Clad in minimalist white marble, the modern art museum has three exhibition levels, with graphics and paintings by Austrian and international artists like Oskar Kokoschka and Erwin Wurm, and a focus on large-scale installations and sculptural works. In the Altstadt below, the Rupertinum offers changing exhibitions of modern graphic art and interactive special exhibits within a lovely early-Baroque-era building. Both branches have superb dining options, but the Mönchsberg restaurant edges it for the spectacular city views (come in the evening to see the city illuminated).

Eerie but intimate, this is the oldest Christian graveyard in Austria, dating back to 1627. Enclosed on three sides by elegant wrought-iron grilles, Baroque arcades contain chapels belonging to Salzburg's old patrician families. The graveyard is far from mournful: the individual graves are tended with loving care, decorated with candles, fir branches, and flowers—especially pansies (because the name means "thoughts"). In Crypt XXXI is the grave of Santino Solari, architect of the cathedral; in XXXIX that of Sigmund Haffner, a patron for whom Mozart composed a symphony and named a serenade. The final communal Crypt LIV (by the so-called catacombs) contains the body of Mozart's sister Nannerl and the torso of Joseph Haydn's younger brother Michael (his head is in St. Peter's church). The cemetery is in the shadow of the Mönchsberg mount; note the early-Christian tombs carved in the rock face.

If Rome had fountains, so, too, would Wolf-Dietrich's Salzburg. The city is studded with them, and none is so odd as this monument to all things equine. You'll find it if you head to the western end of the Hofstallgasse on Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz, named after Salzburg's second-greatest musical son, the legendary conductor who was the music director of the Salzburg Festival for many decades. On the Mönchsberg side of the square is the Pferdeschwemme—a royal trough, constructed in 1695, where prize horses used to be cleaned and watered; as they underwent this ordeal they could delight in the frescoes of their pin-up fillies on the rear wall. The Baroque monument in the middle represents the antique legend of the taming of a horse, Bellerophon and his mount, Pegasus.

Where Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse meets the Getreidegasse you will find the Rathaus, an insignificant building in the Salzburg skyline—no doubt reflecting the historical weakness of the burghers vis-à-vis the Church, whose opulent monuments are evident throughout the city. On the other hand, this structure is a prime example of the Italian influence in Salzburg's architecture. Originally this was a family tower (and the only one still remaining here), but it was sold to the city in 1407.

At the very heart of Baroque Salzburg, the Residenz overlooks the spacious Residenzplatz and its famous fountain. The palace in its present form was built between 1600 and 1619 as the home of Wolf-Dietrich, the most powerful of Salzburg's prince-archbishops. See inside with a visit to the DomQuartier. The palace courtyard has been the lovely setting for Salzburg Festival opera productions since 1956—mostly the lesser-known treasures of Mozart.

For a refreshing break from churches and gilded treasures of yore, don't miss the chance to see changing exhibitions of modern graphic art and interactive special exhibits on display in this lovely early-baroque era building, part of Salzburg's Museum der Moderne. Stop for a delicious slice of Topfentorte (an airy, fresh-cheese cake) or Apfelstrudel mit Obers (apple strudel with whipped cream) in the street level Café Sarastro.

On a rainy day this is a delightful diversion for both young and old, with an interactive collection of dolls, teddy bears, model trains, and wooden sailing ships. Special Punch and Judy–style Kasperltheater puppet shows leave everyone laughing. Performances are held every Wednesday at 3 pm.

The most sumptuous church in Salzburg, St. Peter's is where Mozart's famed Great Mass in C Minor premiered in 1783, with his wife, Constanze, singing the lead soprano role. Wolfgang directed the orchestra and choir and also played the organ. During the Salzburger Festspiele, the work is performed here during a special church-music concert. The porch has beautiful Romanesque vaulted arches from the original structure built in the 12th century. The interior was decorated in the voluptuous late-Baroque style when additions were made in the 1770s. Note the side chapel by the entrance, with the unusual crèche portraying the Flight into Egypt and the Massacre of the Innocents. Behind the Rupert Altar is the "Felsengrab," a rock-face tomb where—according to a legend—St. Rupert himself was originally buried. To go from the sacred to the profane, head for the abbey's legendary St. Peter Stiftskeller restaurant, adjacent to the church.

Leading into Max-Reinhardt-Platz at the head of the grand Hofstallgasse, this street was named after the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in recognition of the unique contribution it has made annually to the Salzburg Festival, playing for most opera productions and for the majority of orchestral concerts. The street blossoms with an open-air food market every Saturday morning; there is also a fruit-and-vegetable market on Universitätsplatz every day except Sunday and holidays.