Hohensalzburg Fortress

Hohensalzburg Fortress crowns the Festungsberg hill at 506 meters above the city of Salzburg, Austria, with construction begun in 1077 under Archbishop Gebhard von Helfenstein and substantially expanded over the following centuries, most notably under Prince-Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach between 1495 and 1519 and again with new bastions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. At 250 meters long and 150 meters wide, it ranks among the largest medieval castles in Europe, its original bailey having grown into a complex of ring walls, towers, courtyards and princely apartments. Its interior includes the Golden Hall with its ornate coffered ceiling, a star vaulted chapel, and the Salzburg Bull, a mechanical organ built in 1502 with more than 200 pipes. Built and expanded by the prince-archbishops who ruled Salzburg, the fortress stands today as one of the best preserved castles in Europe, reached by the Festungsbahn funicular opened in 1892, and functions as a museum that remains among the city leading tourist attractions.