Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg

The Historic Centre of Salzburg is the compact medieval and Baroque core of the Austrian city of Salzburg, characterized by church spires, narrow lanes and a prominent hilltop fortress. Its urban fabric reflects centuries of ecclesiastical power and Baroque rebuilding.

The skyline is dominated by the Hohensalzburg Fortress and a sequence of major Baroque monuments such as the Salzburger Dom and the civic palaces along the Salzach River. Historic streets like Getreidegasse feature traditional shopfronts and the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, while the Mirabell Gardens provide formal Baroque landscape on the opposite bank.

Salzburg grew under the authority of prince-archbishops who invested heavily in fortifications, churches and palaces from the Middle Ages into the 17th and 18th centuries, producing the dense Baroque appearance visible today. The fortress began as a military stronghold in the late 11th century and was expanded repeatedly to control the surrounding region.

The centre sits on both banks of the Salzach River at the northern edge of the Alps in the Austrian state of Salzburg. The old town occupies a narrow valley floor beneath the fortress, with the Mirabell quarter on the opposite bank.

• Best viewpoints: Panoramic views over the old town are available from the fortress and from the Kapuzinerberg hill on the east bank of the Salzach.
• Mozart site: Mozart's birthplace is on Getreidegasse No. 9 and houses a museum dedicated to his life and early years.

What to See #

• Hohensalzburg Fortress: A medieval fortress occupying a hill above the city, with construction begun in the late 11th century and substantial expansions through the Middle Ages and early modern period.
• Salzburger Dom: A 17th-century Baroque cathedral notable for its large dome and rich interior, located on Domplatz in the heart of the old town.
• Getreidegasse and Mozart's birthplace: A narrow medieval shopping street famous for its wrought-iron shop signs and for the house at No. 9 where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in 1756.
• Mirabell Palace and Gardens: An early 17th-century palace and formal Baroque gardens situated on the opposite bank of the Salzach River, used today for municipal and cultural functions.