The Belvedere Palace Gardens are one of the most beautiful Baroque parks in the world. Together with the two palaces, these wonderful gardens form a harmonious whole that has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and attracted 1.7 million visitors annually before the coronavirus pandemic. I visited this wonderful garden, which stretches across three terraces between the Lower and Upper Belvedere, in sunny but very stormy weather. I was excited to see this Baroque landscape gem, which was laid out in the French style in the 18th century according to the design of garden architect Dominique Girard. With free admission, I set out to explore this park. As soon as I entered the huge palace garden, I was overwhelmed by its beauty. The so-called “Canaletto view” from the Upper Belvedere, the representative palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy, onto Vienna’s city center was particularly fantastic. Belvedere means “beautiful view” in Italian, and that’s exactly what I had. The park landscape was magnificent with its fountains, water basins, flower beds, and beautifully laid out gravel paths. My personal highlight, besides the wonderful 10 sphinx sculptures, the guardians of Olympus, was the cascade fountain in the center of the park. This fountain has two water basins connected by five cascades. I was fascinated by its water feature and listened spellbound to the sound of the water. A staircase led me to an avenue lined with stone sculptures representing the Greek muses. This avenue led me to the Lower Belvedere, the prince’s former residence. The palace gardens with their two magnificent palaces simply enchanted me.
