Hellbrunn Palace

The Salzburg Prince-Archbishop Markus Sittikus had his splendid summerhouse built in 1615 by the Italian architect Santino Solari. Today you can visit the castle with its unique interior and the impressive garden with countless fountains and water features.

The castle is open from 29th March to 4th November every day from 9am. In July and August, there are also evening tours between 6 pm and 9 pm for the water features. More information at hellbrunn.at

One should seriously consider whether to sit on the stone bench. A wet butt is guaranteed.

The castle: Markus Sittikus von Hohenems was elected Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg in 1612. From 1613 to 1615, he built a villa suburbana on the Italian model outside the gates of the city of Salzburg, incorporating a late Gothic nobility seat. The architect was Santino Solari, who had also been commissioned with the construction of the new Salzburg Cathedral. The ballroom is richly painted on the walls and vaulted ceiling with allegorical depictions (presumably by Arsenio Mascagni). Noteworthy are the octagon, fish room, bird room and corner room. Around the closed court of honor there are symmetrical outbuildings. Together with the access road from the east to the east portal and the Fürstenweg (now crossing the Alpine road), the castle forms a castle axis extending far into the landscape.

The Water Games: The world's best-preserved water features of late Renaissance with numerous water jokes and various moving figures and numerous sculpted caves are to admire: The Theatrum (Roman theater) with the Principal and pond, the Orpheus Grotto, the wine cellar, the Sternweiher including the fountain Altembs with Perseus, the Neptune's Grotto, the Mirror, Shell, Bird's Nest and Ruin Grotto (in the Castle), the Venus Grotto, Fools and Boar Statues, the Capricorn Grotto and the Fountain of the Goddess Diana, the Mydas and Crown Grotto and the Neptune Fountain. From 1749 to 1752 Archbishop Andreas Jakob von Dietrichstein added the elaborate "Mechanical Theater" to the old water features.
Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Hellbrunn