Graz - Delightfully relaxed city in South-East Austria

Graz - Delightfully relaxed city in South-East Austria

Graz is a delightfully relaxed city situated in south-eastern Austria. It is set around the banks of the Mur River and the old town centre with its red roofs is dominated by the Schlossberg, the hill that rises above it. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is a picturesque place, full of cultural interest and wonderful architecture from Baroque palaces to innovative modern constructions such as the Kunsthaus, a British-designed art gallery on the river bank.

By the late fourteenth century, Graz became the seat of the Hapsburgs, and Friedrich III, King of Germany, Emperor of Austria and Holy Roman Emperor left his mark on the town in the form of his motto 'Austria Est Imperare Orbi Universo' or AEIOU. In the early nineteenth century Archduke Johann founded the first museum in Austria, and set the cultural tone for the future.

The Landesmuseum Joanneum is a vast natural history museum, but perhaps a more obviously Austrian museum is the Landeszeughaus with its amazing collection of more than 30,000 items of armour and weapons largely from the seventeenth century. Graz is full of museums but it is far from being a museum piece of a city - it has three universities, and a vibrant atmosphere.

The architecture is the main attraction for visitors. Among the highlights is the Landhaus's fabulous Italian Renaissance courtyard, with triple-tiered arcades. The Schloss Eggenberg, a Baroque palace built in the seventeenth century, has an extraordinary interior dedicated to astronomical and mythological themes, as in the memorable Planet Hall. There is fine cathedral, the Domkirche, with an unusual exterior fresco during back to the 1480s, next to which stands the Baroque mausoleum of Ferdinand II.