Residenzplatz, Salzburg

Next to the cathedral is the Residenzplatz, one of the main squares in Salzburg, located in the historic center. Surrounded by several historic residences, it was built in 1587. At the center of the square is a fountain called Residenzbrunnen, built between 1656 and 1661 and while it wasn’t on today it is still an impressive fountain.

One of the buildings around the square is home to the Salzburg Carillon or Glockenspiel. It is a musical instrument consisting of 35 bells which are played together or in various combinations
, and the bells ring out three times a day. The bells were purchased by Archbishop Johann Ernst in Antwerp, Belgium in 1695 and the once in Salzburg the drive mechanism and brass drum were made by a local gunsmith Franz Sulzer and bell founder Benedikt Eisenberger, and the Glockenspiel was constructed. The brass drum has 7,964 holes in it to allow the sound to resonate. It began playing in 1704 a repertoire of 40 pieces and a clockwork element was added in 1873 where the movement of the clock would release the music, thus being able to pre-time the ringing of the Glockenspiel.

We just happened to be in the square when the bells started ringing and the snow started falling. It was a surreal experience, especially as we were not expecting such cold weather or snow on this trip. It was pretty cool.

We also came across an artist seeing his works of Salzburg and we liked his work so much we bought a piece for home. We do love buying art pieces when we travel as they bring back so many memories.

We headed back to our apartment early as we had ticked off so many amazing sights and it was just so cold. I think it eventually reached the expected 5 degrees but was close to zero most of the day. Time for a rest, much more to do tomorrow and we are crossing our fingers that tomorrow is sunnier as it would be lovely to see Salzburg in all her glory.Read more