Linz Cities :: Linz Hotels

Like most cities of Austria , the city of Linz is based on the Roman expansion to the North. The bending of the River Danube made this territory a strategic point and a small castle fortified it. The castle and its settlements where named Lentia. Linz is the second largest city in Austria and a very important location for industry. It is home to approximately 200.000 people and host to the annual Bruckner Festival and the Ars Electronica, a fair dedicated to technology and contemporary electronic art.

This edifice dates from 1513/1514 and was newly built by Meister Christoph following a town fire. The core of the building attained its present appearance in the course of an enlargement (1658/59). During the 19th and 20th centuries, the adjacent houses were purchased and structurally integrated in the period from 1993 to 1999. The building has stylistic elements ranging from the Gothic and Renaissance to the Baroque and the contemporary. There are lanes running from the Hauptplatz to the Pfarrplatz and from the Rathausgasse to the Pfarrgasse. The building is the seat of the city council and the central administration of the city. It houses an attractive arcade courtyard with a restaurant and the  Linz Genesis museum, which focuses on city history.

In the middle of the Main Square , one of Austria 's most attractive closed squares, there stands the 20 m high Baroque Trinity Column (completed in 1723). Carved in white marble by Sebastian Stumpfegger according to a model from Antono Beduzzi, the column bears three inscriptions. These announce the dedication of the column to the Holy Trinity by the guilds, the Emperor and the people of Linz in gratitude for deliverance from the dangers of war (1704), fire (1712) and plague (1713). The column is flanked by the patron saints Sebastian, Florian and Carlo Borromeo.

Originally the twin nave church of the monastery of the Minor Friars, which was founded in 1236, the building was returned to the order in 1678 following the Reformation. It was then redesigned as an opulently decorated, single nave Rococo church in 1751 by Johann Matthias Krinner. There is stucco work by Kaspar Modler, high altar paintings by Bartolomeo Altomonte and side altar works by Johann Martin Schmidt. The nearby monastery building is now the seat of the Upper Austrian Provincial Government.

This is the seat of the Upper Austrian provincial governor, parliament and government. The extensive Renaissance building with three inner courtyards stands on the site of the former cloister of the monastery of the Friars Minors, which was purchased by the city guilds and taken over in 1564. The tower dates from 1568. The so-called "Planet Fountain" ("Planetenbrunnen") is in the arcade courtyard, a fountain by the stonemason Peter Guet (1582) with bronzes of the moon, Mercury, Venus, the sun, Mars, and Saturn, crowned with  Jupiter. Over the barrel-vaulted hall on the ground floor, with its north portal in red Untersberger marble (Kaspar Toretto of Venice , 1570), is the "Steinerne Saal", which was divided in 1800.

This is regarded as the oldest original church still in existence in Austria . It was first documented in 799. A rectangular building that is no longer visible,  partially extending into the nave, probably dates from the Agilofingian period (before 788). During the Carolingian period (after 788), the central structure was erected using debris from Roman buildings. This can be seen on both the inside and outside, while the ground plan is marked by stone slabs. The building was redesigned as a bay church in the 11th century and the pillar arches were filled in. There are Romanesque and Gothic door and window arches dating from later alterations. Inside the building, Roman stone inscriptions and a furnace can be seen.

In 1670, the guild riding school (demolished 1909) was built on the site of the former "Mautgarten". In 1695/96 a new building for festive balls was erected according to plans from Carlo Antonio Carlone. In 1773/74, the Redoutensaal was added as a first floor by J.B. Gangl. During 1803 the provincial theatre was added with an Empire facade. Between 1957/58 the theatre was redesigned by Clemens Holzmeister and a separate extension was built for studio theatre.

The construction of the neo-Gothic cathedral was already initiated in 1855 by F.J. Rudiger,  then Bishop of Linz,  and the foundation stone was laid in 1862. The building was designed by the Cologne cathedral builder Vinzenz Statz. The cathedral was consecrated in 1924. The height of the tower was limited to 134 m. The cathedral can accommodate 20.000 worshippers and is also notable for its stained glass windows, including the famous "Linz Window" with scenes from the history of Linz . At Christmas the crypt church contains one of the largest nativity scenes, measuring 12 m in length.

Designed according to drawings by Pietro Francesco Carlone, the cathedral was built between 1669 and 1678. It was the cathedral church of the diocese of Linz from 1785-1909. The single-nave Baroque church has lateral chapels and galleries, as well as a closed choir and stucco work by J.P. Spaz and G.B. Mazza. The marble high altar is by Colomba and Barberini with a picture by Antonio Bellucci. The Aloisian altar picture is by Bartolomeo Altomonte. The choir pews originate from the former monastery church in Garsten, while the organ by Franz Xaver Krismann derives from Engelzell monastery. From 1856-1868 Anton Bruckner served as the cathedral organist.