Monday, June 1, 2015

Passau, Germany and beautiful music. . . . . . .



Passau, known as the "City of Three Rivers" lies at the confluence of the Inn, Danube 
and Itz - and is the last major German city on the Danube at the border of Austria. 

 St. Stephen's - a magnificent baroque cathedral located on the highest point in 
Old Town. Home to the largest cathedral organ in the world with 17,974 organ pipes, 
all five parts of the organ can be played from the main keyboard offering an 
unforgettable acoustical delight.
We attended the noon concert. . . . . . along with around perhaps another thousand
visitors. It was an awesome sound!




 Interior of St. Stephen's Cathedral. 
Devastated by a fire in 1662, it was rebuilt by the famous baroque architect 
Carlo Lurago, its beautiful stucco works done by Giovanni Batista Carlone, 
and the gorgeous frescoes painted by Carpoforo Tencalla.
Breathtaking in every way!





Passau's pretty riverfront gardens.



A city of just 50,000, the Old Town with baroque churches and patrician 
houses is crowded onto the narrow tongue of land separating the Inn and 
Danube rivers. Flooding often occurs and markers on the buildings noted the 
high water levels over the years.
Once a medieval center for the salt trade known as "White Gold", then famous during 
the Renaissance for making high quality knife and sword blades. Local smiths 
stamped their blades with the Passau wolf to grant their owners invulnerability, this 
became known as "Passau Art".

 Passau has now become the economic, cultural and communications center of 
southeastern Bavaria.
Next stop along the Danube, Regensburg, where shipboard life changed!

8 comments:

  1. What a magnificent place, Mary. Love the history.
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Absolutely enchanting pictures, Mary, as always and such great information on every place you visit and the photos you take. Perfect for an armchair traveler like me!

    Thanks for a wonderful great tonight!

    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  3. The interior of the cathedral looks wonderful and listening to a concert played on that huge organ must have been a tremendous experience. The next part of your trip sounds intriguing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful, beautiful photos! Amazing architecture.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The architecture, the gardens, the fountains all so beautifully captured through your lens Mary! I would love to hear that organ!

    ReplyDelete
  6. The cathedral is magnificent. How I would love the concert from that organ.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Such opulent architecture. Such attention to detail. It's all so lovely. Your photos are gorgeous, as always, Mary. Thank you for sharing them with us.

    ReplyDelete

I would enjoy reading your comment - thanks so much for stopping by.