4/3/2024 Wurtzburg, Germany

 Last Night we had a significant delay, when a car went into the river ahead of us. te authorities closed all traffic on the river until they could retrieve the car.  That put us about 3thee hours behind schedule.  They pulled into a location along the river and had buses meet us to take us to our tour location in Wurtzburg.  Many photos today, as you cannot do justice to this place without them.

Waiting for the buses in Rothenfels

The local churh had bells on the hour.

Upon arriving in Wurtzburg, we  stopped to visit "The Bishop's Residenz" , built between 1720 and 1744 this 350 room structure was commissioned by Prince Bishop Johann Philipp Franz von Schonborn .  For centuries the Wurzburg Prince-Bishops wielded enormous power and Wurzburg grew in opulence under btheir rule.

Built in thr boroque style of the era this structure and the interior is on par with the Palace of Versailles in France

The ceiling above the grand staircase is the largest undisrupted fresco in Europe, others like the Sistine Chapel have beams that support the center. Each side represents the known continents at the time.

The continents were represented by women.  The Americas (they thought of as one continent at the time) was represnted by an unclothed woman with a headdress who was considered to be "Uncivilived"

Africa with an Egyptian Obilisk was represented as a place of history and culture

Asia represented by a woman on a camel was representative of a place of trade

Europe represented as the most civilized and the center of the universe. The Prince Bishop even had his own likeness portrayed as being carries of th the heavens.

The next room you enter "the White Room) was where the Guards or military would have been stationed in the residence. The room was made in white and off white to make the soldiers uniforms stand out.

The stucco work in this room was incredible.

Originally there was a fireplace here like the other side of the room, but as things progresses it was replaced with this early furnace.

Even the columns in the room, made to look like marble, were stucco allowing them to control the pattern of the stone look.

The chandaliers in this were reported to be worth somewhere in the seven digit range.

There were many tapestries that adorned the rooms where the occupants resided, this kept the rooms a little warmer.

The doors and doorways were incredibly beautiful

Like Versailles, there is a mirrored room. In my opinion, this room was more beautiful than the mirrored room in Versailles.

The ceiling was a combination of mirror , gold and fresco

The walls were stunning

After leaving the main building, we went to the Chapel and we were blown away.

Above the Alter

The ceiling

The Pulpit

The upper area in the rear of the Chapel

Four of these statue fountains are placed around the city representing major rivers, rivers were represented by male figures.

The Bishops Cathedral a short walk from the residence

The Town Hall

St. Mary's Chapel.  It was designed and built by the people of Wurzburg.  Since the Bishop was not involved in this, he never elevated it from a chapel to a church.  

There was a tax break for those who created a beautiful facade, so many of the buildings have beautiful exteriors.

St. Mary's Chapel from the square. The golden statue of Mary at the top of the spire is like a weather vane and turns with the wind.

Marienberg Fortress and former residence of the Prince Bishop before the building of the Bishop's Residenz.