Mirabell Garden

Mirabell Garden
Originally uploaded by MichaelDuquetteFowler

The world-famous Mirabell Gardens were built along a north-south axis and oriented towards the Hohensalzburg Fortress and the Salzburger Dom cathedral. The original gardens were re-modelled according to plans by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach under the reign of Prince Archbishop Johann Ernst Thun in 1689.

Only some decades later, Franz Anton Danreiter altered them again in 1730, shaping what is now considered to be one of the most beautiful Baroque gardens of Europe. In the 19th century, the Mirabell Gardens were changed once again, several parts were destructed, such as the original Zwergerlgarten (dwarf garden), some arcades facing Mirabell square and the so-called Sala terena in the Northwest of the Mirabell Castle.

The "Grand Parterre" is the oldest part of the Mirabell Gardens that is still preserved. If you enter the parterre from the Markartplatz (where Mozart′s living house and the Doppler birthplace are), you will encounter an inner and outer balustrade that is flanked by copies of the two Borghesian fencer couples from the late 17th century. The inner couple was made by A. Götzinger, the outer one by M. B. Mandl.