Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

A modern building of Volksoper that has no remarkable features is located in the 9th quarter away from all the major sightseeing. You can get here by metro (line U6) or tram (40, 41 or 42). The metro station is across the street. Inside the opera house looks very nice with a large stage curtain that shows various mythological scenes and looks like a tapestry. There are several large modern chandeliers, purple velvet seats and purple Damascus walls on the floor and 4 levels of loggias on the left and right, as well as two balconies. Some seats on the floor are behind a column, but the columns are very narrow so you can see everything that’s happening on the stage. The ushers are somewhat arrogant, and cloak-room costs money.

We were here to see Mozart’s opera "Don Giovanni". The opera was a blast, even though it was in German without the subtitles. The comedy of Leporello, the drama of women’s arias, the attempt at dealing with fast changes of decoration in baroque theater by using curtain and parts of stage, the baroque rulladas and the final scene when Don Giovanni goes to hell – the opera was great. The singers had really very good voices and it was a very entertaining event. Very well done. The singer who was playing the part of Don Giovanni is a tall handsome blond Austrian, very much unlike the stereotype of the opera singers, but most definitely a perfect fit for the part.

The clay ochre color façade of this building can be very well seen from the Opernring with the statue of Schiller in front. The gallery is on the second floor.

This is a small gallery that has a nice collection of old masters. The most important works are concentrated in the first hall you see – here are paintings by Cranach, van Cleve and the jewel of the collection – Bosch’s "Triptych of the last judgment". This triptych was painted in 1504-1508 and is both imaginative and ahead of its time and very much in the best traditions of Dutch school of the times of Bosch and Brueghel.

In the adjacent rooms Italian masters are well represented by Botticelli, Francia, Titian, Giordano, Tiepolo and Guardi with his famous views of Venice. There are also works by Murillo, Bourdon, van Loo, Subleyras, Waldmuller and Canova. Dutch 17th century works are here as well: you can see paintings by van Dyck, Vos, Rubens, Jordaens, de Hooch, Rembrandt.

Dutch school is mainly represented by landscapes and still lifes, also some portraits and scenes of everyday life. The rooms are not well lit but the décor is beautiful with neo-classical women’s heads supporting the ceilings.

Overall, a very enjoyable collection.

A rather simple dark orange facade with a large fresco at the top of the church is what you see when you’ve finally found the Kapuzinerkirche on a large square surrounded with hotels and restaurants. The inside of the church is baroque, with a large wooden altar with painting of Christ; on the left there is a large chapel with St Mary’s altar.

Next door, in a new modern building, there is the Kaisergruft – royal crypt. As you are descending into the crypt along the long staircase, you are also introduced to a collection of imperial treasures – monstrances and crosses made of gold and covered with jewels. The crypt of the dynasty of Habsburgs is a massive royal cemetery. The tombs are very elaborate – some with angels, masks of death, and heads of mourners covered with veil – all of which is made of metal. The most impressive and largest tomb is of Franz Stephan and Maria Theresa in the middle of the chapel, which is covered with frescoes. Statues of both royals are on top of the tomb; on the sides you can see very interesting lithographic views of several cities. Also in the crypt you can see tombs of other Austrian monarchs: Franz Joseph and Elizabeth, Franz I, and Franz II.