The Belvedere Gardens
Dominique Girard (garden design); Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt (Girard about 1680 to 1738; Hildebrandt 1668 to 1745) · about 1700 to 1725
Step out through the Sala Terrena and the whole garden lies below you, dropping in three terraces toward the Lower Belvedere and, beyond it, the spires of the city. Clipped hedges frame the gravel walks, fountains play in the centre of each level, and stone sphinxes with the faces of smiling women guard the steps. This is one of the best preserved Baroque gardens in Europe, laid out by Dominique Girard, a pupil of the gardener of Versailles, at the same time as the palaces were being built. It was designed to be seen from the top, from exactly where you are standing.
The layout is a lesson in Baroque theatre. The upper terrace is formal and enclosed. Below it a great cascade tumbles over carved steps flanked by figures, and the middle terrace opens out into broad parterres of lawn and box. The lower level has its own basin and leads to the Lower Belvedere, which Prince Eugene actually lived in; the Upper Belvedere was mostly for show. Look for the sphinxes, a symbol of power and wisdom that Eugene chose for himself, and for the statues of the muses and the seasons along the walks. The mound at the very top of the site is why the palace is called Belvedere, beautiful view.
The garden has been open to the public since the seventeen eighties, when Emperor Joseph the Second moved the imperial picture collection into the Upper Belvedere and let citizens in to see it, one of the first public art museums in the world. It is free to walk today, from early morning until dusk, and in the summer it is used for concerts. The view back up to the palace from the lower terrace, with its green domes against the sky, is the classic photograph of Vienna.
Did You Know? The imperial picture gallery opened here to the public in the seventeen eighties, which makes the Belvedere one of the oldest public art museums anywhere.
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