Saturday, May 19, 2012

Day 6 Würzburg

We arrived in Würzburg today shortly after breakfast. Our guided tour included an excursion to an impressive baroque Bishops residence. This palace is one of Germany's largest and a UNESCO World heritage site. It was modeled after the palace of Versailles and is about 1/5 the size. It took some 70 years to build beginning in 1720 and was only occupied for about 70-80 years as the church and state split and everything changed. The main purpose of its construction was to unit the aristocracy of Europe as Würzburg is approx halfway between Paris and Vienna. The residence was only partially destroyed during WWII bombing by the allies. Later that day we visited the prince bishops fortress perched high on a cliff overlooking Würzburg which had been the seat of power for some 800 years before they decided to move to the city to be among the people. Both places we're magnificent in their own way.

The Prince Bishops residence in Würzburg

The Würzburg fortress seen from the residence

View of Würzburg from the fortress

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