Freelance Copywriting & Original Photography
Freelance Copywriting & Original Photography
Salzburg’s old city is encircled by 3 prominent hills. The Festungberg, the Kapuzinerberg, and the Mönchsberg. The “Monk’s Mountain” is named in honor of the Benedictine monks of St Peter’s Abbey at its northern tip. It’s a grand place to take a walk. There are medieval fortifications, tree-covered alleys, and
This fine figure of a wall is the Bürgerwehr (“citizen defence”), part of the late Medieval fortifications instigated by Prince Archbishop Berhard von Rohr. Up until 1816, the area was patrolled by the Bürgergarde, a local militia. You’ll notice that the original masons used small rocks. These walls were built to
Mönchsberg’s geology doesn’t make for a particularly sturdy foundation. There have been numerous rockfalls and cleavages during its history, including a disaster on July 16, 1669 when the mountain descended on the Gstättengasse. 230 citizens, 2 churches, 13 houses, and a seminary were crushed. This – and another fatal episode in 1765
Mönchsberg owes it shape and composition to glaciers. Unlike the hill of the Festung, which is primarily limestone, Mönchsberg is a conglomerate – a solidified mass of sand, gravel, and crushed stone. This was deposited as a delta from “dying glaciers” during the time of the Mindel-Riss Interglacial period.