Special Buildings

In Innsbruck, we saw 2 beautiful buildings that I want to show you.



Innsbruck's cathedral, Dom zu St. Jakob, was built in the baroque style. The outside was very tall and had statues of saints in little alcoves. But the outside didn't really prepare us for the spectacular work inside!




Detailed and ornate paintings covered the ceilings, some of them inside of domes even and surrounded with intricate details. I cannot imagine standing on scaffolding and craning one's neck to create these gems!




After we walked in and slowly turned while marvelling at the ceilings, we looked to the back of the church and saw this gorgeous pipe organ!




This is the gold and silver high altar that houses a well-known Mother and Child painting.




Gorgeous marble floor mosaics.




Beautiful plaster sculptural details were everywhere.





Both of these buildings had the most amazing details, like this golden lotus blossom.




Here is another amazing piece of metalwork.




The second building was Hofkirche, built in Innsbruck by Maximillian I because he loved the city so much. He envisioned this city as the capital of his empire and hoped it would rival Rome one day. Inside this building are 28 bronze statues of his ancestors,relatives, in-laws and heros.




This statue is King Arthur, I think. Each one was about 7 or 8 feet tall and had amazing detailed clothing, crowns and shoes.




This mausoleum was built for Maximillian I but by the time he died he was in so much debt (due to the numerous wars he engaged in while trying to extend his empire to include all of Italy) that his body was not allowed here.




From the stairs leading up to a small private chapel, you can get a sense of the size of the whole interior.

I'm glad we took time to walk through these 2 spectacular places - they were just beautiful! Stay tuned for a tour of Salzburg - and bring your umbrella because it rained while we were there!