The Belvedere is a historical building complex in Vienna, Austria, consisting of two Baroque palaces the Upper and Lower Belvedere, the Orangery, and the Palace Stables. The buildings are set in a Baroque park landscape in the 3rd district of the city, south-east of its centre. It houses the Belvedere museum. The grounds are set on a gentle gradient and include decorative tiered fountains and cascades, Baroque sculptures, and majestic wrought iron gates. The Baroque Palace complex was built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy.
The Belvedere was built during a period of extensive constructions in Vienna, which at the time was both the imperial capital and home to the ruling dynasty. This period of prosperity followed on from the commander-in-chief Prince Eugene of Savoy's successful conclusion of a series of wars against the Ottoman Empire.

On 30 November 1697, one year after commencing with the construction of the Stadtpalais, Prince Eugene purchased a sizable plot of land south of the Rennweg, the main road to Hungary. Plans for the Belvedere garden complex were drawn up immediately. The prince chose Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt as the chief architect for this project rather than Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, the creator of his Stadtpalais. Hildebrandt (1668–1745), whom the general had met whilst engaged in a military campaign in Piedmont, had already built Rلckeve Palace for him in 1602 on Csepel, an island in the Danube south of Budapest. He later went on to build numerous other edifices in his service. The architect had studied civil engineering in Rome under Carlo Fontana and had gone into imperial service in 1695–96 in order to learn how to build fortifications. From 1696 onwards, records show that he was employed as a court architect in Vienna. As well as the Belvedere, Hildebrandt’s most outstanding achievements include the Schloss Hof Palace, which was also commissioned by Prince Eugene, the Schwarzenberg Palace (formerly known as the Mansfeld–Fondi Palace), the Kinsky Palace, as well as the entire Gِttweig Monastery estate in the Wachau Valley.
At the time that the prince was planning to buy the land on the outskirts of Vienna for his Belvedere project, the area was completely undeveloped – an ideal place to construct a landscaped garden and summer palace. However, a month before the prince made his acquisition, the imperial Grand Marshall Count Heinrich Franz Mansfeld, Prince of Fondi, purchased the neighboring plot and commissioned Hildebrandt to build a garden Palace on the land. To buy the plot, Prince Eugene was forced to take out a large loan secured against his Stadtpalais, which was still in the process of being built. He bought additional neighboring areas of land in 1708, 1716, and again in 1717–18 to allow him to expand the garden in stages.
Records indicate that the construction of the Upper Belvedere had started by 1712, as Prince Eugene submitted the request for a building inspection on 5 July 1713. Work proceeded swiftly, and Marcantonio Chiarini from Bologna started painting the quadratura in the central hall in 1715. The Flemish ambassador visited the Lower Belvedere, as well as the Stadtpalais, in April 1716. Extensive work was carried out on the grounds at the same time as construction went ahead on the Lustschloss, as the Lower Belvedere was described on an early cityscape. Dominique Girard changed the plans for the garden significantly between January and May 1717, so that it could be completed by the following summer. Girard, who was employed as fontainier du roi, or the king’s water engineer, in Versailles from 1707–15, had started working as a garden inspector for the Bavarian elector Max Emanuel from 1715 onwards. It was on the latter’s recommendation that he entered Prince Eugene’s employ.
The Lower Belvedere and the Orangery have been specially adapted to stage special exhibitions. After winning an invitation-only competition, architect Susanne Zottl turned the Orangery into a modern exhibition hall whilst still preserving the building’s original Baroque fabric. This venue opened in March 2007 with the exhibition Gartenlust: Der Garten in der Kunst (Garden Pleasures: The Garden in Art). A few months later the Lower Belvedere reopened with the show Vienna—Paris. The redesign of the building was carried out by the Berlin architect Wilfried Kühn, who moved the entrance back to its place in the cour d’honneur, thereby once more freeing up the original line of vision from the main gate of the Lower Belvedere via the Marble Hall to the garden facade of the Upper Belvedere. The various sections of the original orangeries annexed to the Marble Hall were returned to their original condition and now provide space for the new exhibition rooms. The magnificent Baroque state rooms – the Marble Gallery, the Golden Room, and the Hall of Grotesques – remain unchanged and are open to the public.


General Information T +43 1 795 57-134
F +43 1 795 57-136


Opening Hours
Upper Belvedere
Daily 10 am to 6 pm
Lower Belvedere, Orangery
Daily 10 am to 6 pm
Wednesday 10 am to 9 pm
Palace Stables
Daily 10 am to noon
Secession | Gustav Klimt, Beethoven Frieze
Tuesday to Sunday 10 am to 6 pm | Thursday 10 am to 8 pm
Online-Ticket Service
tickets.belvedere.at


address
Upper Belvedere
Collection
Prinz-Eugen-Straكe 27
1030 Vienna
Lower Belvedere
Exhibitions, staterooms
Orangery
Exhibitions
Palace Stables
Medieval Treasury
Rennweg 6
1030 Vienna
Augarten Contemporary
Gustinus Ambrosi Museum
Scherzergasse 1a
1020 Vienna
20er Haus closed due to renovation
Arsenalstraكe 1
1030 Vienna
Secession
Beethoven Frieze
Friedrichstraكe 12
1010 Vienna


Access
Admission charges
Reduced admission for disabled visitors:
Kombi-Ticket: € 3
Upper Belvedere: € 2
Lower Belvedere: € 2

Reduced admission for a person accompanying a disabled visitor:
Kombi-Ticket: € 3
Upper Belvedere: € 2
Lower Belvedere: € 2


some photos