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Visit Rome following 8 XVIIIth century itineraries XVIIIth century Rome in the 10 Books of Giuseppe Vasi - Le Magnificenze di Roma Antica e Moderna The Grand View of Rome by G. Vasi The Environs of Rome: Frascati, Tivoli, Albano and other small towns near Rome A 1781 map of Rome by G. Vasi An 1852 map of Rome by P. Letarouilly Rome seen by a 1905 armchair traveller in the paintings by Alberto Pisa The 14 historical districts of Rome An abridged history of Rome How to spend a peaceful day in Rome Baroque sculptors and their works The coats of arms of the popes in the monuments of Rome Pages on a specific pope Pages complementing the itineraries and the views by Giuseppe Vasi Walks in the Roman countryside and in other towns of Latium following Ferdinand Gregorovius A Directory of links to the Churches of Rome A Directory of links to the Palaces and Villas of Rome A Directory of links to the Other Monuments of Rome A Directory of Baroque Architects with links to their works A Directory of links to Monuments of Ancient Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Medieval Rome A Directory of links to Monuments of Renaissance A Directory of links to Monuments of the Late Renaissance A list of the most noteworthy Roman Families Directories of fountains, obelisks, museums, etc. Books and guides used for developing this web site An illustrated Glossary of Art Terms Venice and the Levant Roman recollections in Florence A list of Italian towns shown in this web site Venetian Fortresses in Greece Vienna seen by an Italian XVIIIth century traveller A list of foreign towns shown in this web site
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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.

To the Italian visitors of my web site

Emperor Joseph II portrayed as Hercules - 1806 Monument in Josefsplatz by Franz Anton Zauner Vienna seen by an Italian XVIIIth century traveller - Renaissance Vienna


Vienna has retained only a limited number of Renaissance buildings: during the XVIth century some emperors preferred to live (and embellish) Prague thus depriving Vienna of the advantage of being the residence of the imperial court.


Italian style courtyard in Schwanenfeld house, Backerstrasse 7 and Renaissance house in Judenplatz
Italian style courtyard in Schwanenfeld Haus, Backerstrasse 7 and Renaissance house in Judenplatz

The cradle of the medieval town is located around Stephansdom, its Romanic/Gothic cathedral, and by walking in the nearby net of narrow streets it is possible to find elements of Renaissance architecture, which, in the case of the courtyard of Backerstrasse clearly show an Italian influence (for a similar courtyard in Rome see Palazzo di Giacomo Mattei, a family who had close links with the Habsburgs).

Salvatorkapelle and sacred image in Wohnhaus 'Zur Mariahilf'
Salvatorkapelle and sacred image in Wohnhaus 'Zur Mariahilf'

A very fine Renaissance portal in Salvatorkapelle shows the close relationships existing between Vienna and northern Italy in particular with Venice and Milan. These relationships are visible also in a very Italian looking madonna.

Amalientrakt in Hofburg
Amalien Trakt in Hofburg

Hofburg is the name given to the complex of the imperial palaces: at the beginning it was just a small fortress protecting Vienna from Hungarian and Turkish raids; with the construction of state-of-the-art Renaissance walls, the defensive aim of the Hofburg became redundant and the emperors in the course of three centuries turned it into an imposing residence, which lacks architectonic consistency.
Its oldest part was initially designed by the Italian Pietro Ferrabosco in 1577: it shows an adaptation of the Florentine use of bugnato, stones projecting from the wall (the image used as a background for this page shows a detail of the bugnato of Palazzo Ruspoli in Rome).

Schweitzertor in Hofburg
Schweitzertor in Hofburg

The first Ottoman siege of Vienna started on September 27, 1529, very late in the season and the early arrival of winter forced the sultan to return to Constantinople for the winter. The medieval walls of Vienna however had proved unable to sustain a properly planned siege. The Habsburgs therefore decided to replace them with new state-of-the art walls and those of Verona just built by Michele Sanmicheli were taken as the example to follow. Sanmicheli designed also the walls of Candia. The walls were pulled down in the XIXth century, but a surviving gate in the Hofburg tells us that the walls were not just a merely defensive structure, but were designed paying a lot of attention to their formal aspect, as Sanmicheli had done in Verona. The 1552 inscription in Latin celebrates Ferdinand I, who in addition to his imperial title was king, archduke/duke of several European countries.



Pages in this section of the website in recommended order:
Introduction: the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nations
Renaissance Vienna
The 1683 Siege of Vienna
XVIIth century churches
XVIIth century palaces
Monuments celebrating the end of plagues
The walls of Vienna
Sacred images
XVIIIth century churches
XVIIIth century palaces
Fountains
Italian sculpture and sculptors
A political manifesto: Karlskirche
Churches without the walls
Palaces and Villas without the walls
A day in the countryside: Perchtoldsdorf