The Residenz (the home of the Prince Bishop), a spectacular building, designed to awe anyone and everyone who came to see the residents. Carriages were driven directly through the front doors, into a vast marble hall. This photo does not do it nearly enough justice.
Just one glimpse of the opulent interiors of the Residenz. There must have been at least seven different types of marble in this room alone.
Many of the rooms within the Residenz were designed to showcase the extensive gardens behind the building. Even though it was early in the spring, the grounds were fantastic, immaculate and complicated.
There seems to be a trend in Germany, that is present in many amazing buildings and grounds. The fountains, though they are surrounded by the most complex gardens and landscapes and intricate buildings, the fountains that are the focal point of these gorgeous locations, are nothing more than roughly hewn rock. In a way, these contrasts makes the landscape from being too perfect, too unnatural, too manicured. In the gardens of the Residenz, the trees were so clean and cut, the flowers planted in perfect patterns and shapes, while the fountains were piles of rock, covered in moss.
There was a ring of perfectly shaped cone trees in one of the side-gardens, and underneath each of them was a stone statue, almost hidden by the immaculately manicured branches.
The Residenz also housed many museums (in a way, it was practically a town in itself). I found this ancient bust of Athena, my favorite Greek Goddess in the Martin von Wagner Museum.
Between visiting museums (we saw a fantastic Impressionism exhibition, along with some interesting collections at the Würzburg Dom Museum), we stopped in during the end of an Easter morning mass. The accoustics of the cathedral were amazing-- and the music of the choir and the orchestra spilled out the doors and rang throughout the town.
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