View of Salzburg from Hohensalzburg Fortress
When I was just entering the city of Salzburg, I can see that there is a massive castle looking structure which dominates the cityscape. There is a hill at the center of the city and upon this hill was the fortress built by the prince archbishop. Although there used to be an older Roman fort which was built here, the current fortress was first constructed in 1077. Like a lot of similar structures, the fortress was continually expanded over the years until it probably didn’t make sense anymore. After all, the whole point of putting the castle on top of the hill was to protect the castle against invaders. If the fortress started taking up areas beyond the hill, then it would be defeating the purpose of the fortress. It is considered to be one of the largest medieval castles in Europe.
See the Sphaera from Hohensalzburg Fortress
I took a funicular to get to the top of hill which was just the start of the visit. The fortress is actually very tall and you can immediately see upon entering the fortress grounds. The walls are very steep even up here on the hill, which makes the fortress even more imposing. Before entering, I was told that it was almost closing time. While visitors can still go around the castle grounds, visits to the inside of the castle will no longer be allow after a certain time. So I was advised to visit those first before doing anything else. Looking at how large the fortress is, I don’t even know if it is possible to cover the entire fortress in the remaining time. Before that, I would first waste a little time taking in the view of the old town of Salzburg from outside the fortress walls. As you can see, it is already quite high up, I think the view would be even more impressive when I go up the fortress.
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