Hohensalzburg Fortress

This is the most intact fortress in Europe, it was built between 1300 and 1600 by the Archbishops of the region, who kept adding bits on. There are several different bits as you go up that were gradually added on, like a gate house and the outer walls. I just kept exclaiming - it's beautiful, it's wonderful. It's was just breathtaking, the river, the castle, the white snow with flashes of green showing through and the old buildings. Nothing my camera could photograph could capture and do justice to it's beauty.

At the top we entered the fortress surrounded by walls and there was a large courtyard. One was irregularly shaped and bare apart from a tree in the middle, black against the snow. The branches of the tree were edged in dark green moss, which in turn was edged with yellow, orange glowing reflections of the sun. I resisted taking a photo as the mind can recall it best. It was also completely silent. From the courtyard we walked through an archway to an open balcony - a landing hanging over the city and surrounded by mountains - something out of a paramount movie. There was mist everywhere, especially in a thick line hanging just below the height of the balcony. The black birds sitting on the wall flew away as we approached, onto the fingers of trees a little down the mountain. I waited about 15 minutes to capture a picture of the black bird on the tree, but they had moved on. We walked through the arch way several times just to feel the world opening up at our feet.

The less aesthetic experiences in the fortress were the museum and the genuine chastity belt! We had a tour included in the entrance, and we saw one room with portraits of all the archbishops who had lived there. One had a Mistress as they were not allowed to marry, and he built her a palace in the middle of town and had 16 kids with her. He was later imprisoned by his successor in a torture chamber we saw. It had all the torture equipment, like a stretching machine, and a 6 foot pit to stick people down. There are pillars of red marble only found in this region, one has a hole in it made by a stone cannon ball that was fired into the fortress during a peasant revolution.

We descended the castle still in awe of the castle and city.

Photo by Starbuck77