The Ancient City of Salzburg 
SCHLOSS MIRABELL AND A PORTION OK ITS GARDEN 
burial ground of St. Peter, with the church 
of St. Margaret in the center of it. The 
vaults are cut out of the rock, the base of the 
Mbnchsberg. Beside the vaults are tw'o 
ruined chapels, one of which dates away 
back into pagan times and looks quite as old 
as its reputation. The most beautiful spot 
in the town is the Mirabell Garden which 
lies beside the Schloss Mirabell and also 
adjoins the City Park. The building was 
begun by Wolfgang Dietrich in 1607, but it 
remained for Marcus 
Sitticus, his successor, 
to fit it out gorgeously 
and give it its present 
name. Having been 
partly destroyed by fire 
in 1 81 8, it was restored 
to its present state by 
the Emperor Francis I. 
The building contains 
a beautiful stairw’ay, 
notable for its balus¬ 
trade surmounted by 
marble statues. Ran- 
zoni described it as “a 
work of art of which 
all of Austria may be 
proud.” The castle 
is now owned by the 
city, which has claimed 
a portion of it as a 
museum and divided 
the remainder into 
several private dwell¬ 
ings. The large gar¬ 
den is beautifully laid 
out in the old French 
style, and the bushes 
and small trees of a 
portion of it at one time 
were trained to form 
an open-air theatre. A 
northern corner shel¬ 
ters, in the aviary of 
the Ornithological So¬ 
ciety, a collection of 
living Alpine and 
foreign birds. It is 
out of the question, 
however, to attempt to 
even catalogue all the 
old buildings; andper- 
haps it will be well to conclude with a slight 
description of Salzburg’s greatest pride, 
namely, the birthplace and early home of 
Mozart. I his is situated in one of the 
narrowest of the streets—the Getreidegasse, 
not far from the river front. Above the 
door there are lines from Horace which 
are thus translated: “In my house there 
sparkle neither ivory nor gilt ceilings, but 
there is honesty and a vein of kindly spirit, 
and though 1 be poor, yet the rich come to 
A CORNER OF THE MIRABELL GARDEN 
72 
